The Curse of the Teddy Bear
by Violet 1313
Summary: Robin finds an old teddy bear on a mission with Batman and tries to unravel the mystery of how and why it seems to be haunting him; all the while coping with the everyday life of a superhero. Rated T because I don't have a CLUE how the ratings work.
1. Ch 1 RIDDLES

**Author's Note: Hi all! This is my first chapter; there's definitely more to come, please don't give up on me yet! Please review! I really want to know what other people think about my writing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice!**

**Chapter 1: RIDDLES**

The sound of shattering glass echoed through the quiet, midnight streets of downtown Gotham City; quickly followed by the blare of an alarm. A tall, thin man in green suit jumped out of the jewellery store's now-broken window with a briefcase in his hand and an evil grin on his face. He looked both ways and listened to the police sirens wailing in the distance before ducking around the corner of the building and disappearing into the night.

The police cars screeched to a stop in front of the jewellery store and the cops jumped out; guns at the ready. One very fat cop surveyed the scene before ordering his men to go in and check it out.

On top of the building, the man in the green suit looked down at them with a wicked grin on his face. He waited for a minute or two as the cops scoped out the shop then frowned crankily. _They'll turn up, they have to turn up._ After a minute more he stood up and waved at the police-men, laughing manically. They looked up and pointed their guns. He laughed harder and produced a gold cane with a question mark on top and waved that at the police men; a few backed away.

The Riddler laughed harder and jumped down from the building. The cops all backed away further. "Freeze or we'll shoot!" a wavering voice shouted, Riddler laughed again and dashed away down the street. The cops jumped into their cars and gave chase.

The Riddler led them through the streets, weaving around town for miles but going in crooked circles. The lights to many houses blinked on, the occupants awakened by the sirens and shouting and wondering what the commotion was.

After a while, Riddler stopped playing around and dashed off in a different direction. After a few minutes he disappeared into an abandoned house; three storeys high and falling apart. The police surrounded the building and sent a few people in to find him.

Riddler was in the upper storey's hall way, peering down the stairs and laughing at their stupidity. He turned and startled when he found himself staring into the mask of an imposing, dark figure. His shocked expression was quickly replaced by a sly grin.

"Batman, I was wondering when you'd decide to show!"

Batman scowled at him from behind his mask. Riddler turned around and almost smacked into Robin. Riddler frowned and swung his fist at the teen's head. Robin dropped to the ground and swept his leg behind Riddler's knees, Riddler leapt straight over the raven-haired sidekick and dashed down the hallway. Both the heroes raced after him.

Their chase weaved around the whole building, with a few small duels in the kitchen and empty bedrooms until Riddler led Robin into one room on the third floor that was different from the rest; _much_ different.

Instead of dust-covered plasterboard floor, with tattered and torn curtains, peeling wallpaper and mottled and holed ceiling it had a cream carpet with a fluffy pale pink rug on the centre of the floor. The curtains were pale pink and silky, fluttering in the gentle breeze coming in from the open window. In the corner next to the window was a four-poster bed with frilly white sheets piled high with fluffy pink pillows. A pink lace drape was pulled back from where it had hung over the bed and secured to the wall. On the centre of the floor was an old, tattered, brown and fuzzy, button-eyed teddy bear.

Robin's shock was obvious and he surveyed the room slowly. Riddler took advantage of the teen's distraction and attacked him. Robin's eyes widened behind his mask and he barely dodged the punch thrown at him. Riddler pressed onwards with his attacks, forcing Robin back towards the wall. The teen hero recovered quickly and fought back, but his older opponent had the upper hand.

Robin began to find himself with less and less chances to attack and was constantly on defence. But when Batman leapt into the room, he took Riddler down in a matter of seconds, disarming him of his cane and snapping an inhibiter collar around the villain's neck. Three police-men arrived and escorted Riddler to a cop car.

As the villain was being cuffed and dragged to his feet, Robin knelt down and picked the teddy-bear up off the floor. Looking at it quizzically, he heard Riddler whisper "You think you've won, he-he-he, think again." Robin's head jerked up and he glared at the villain. Riddler was being led out of the room, but he leaned over to Robin and hissed "This is just the beginning, Boy Wonder, just the beginning."

Robin wasn't disturbed by Riddler's threat, but he didn't dismiss it either. Batman either hadn't heard, or he simply didn't show it. Robin looked back down at the teddy-bear; he felt there was something important about it, and he was still confused about the room; he didn't have a chance to investigate.

Batman turned without a word and stalked out of the room. Robin looked at his mentor then at the teddy in his hand, then back to Batman before standing up straight and following the Dark Knight out of the house; teddy-bear still in hand.

Riddler was taken by the police to Belle Reve Penitentiary and the jewels he had stolen were returned to the storeowner. Batman and Robin headed back to the Batcave. Robin stashed the teddy-bear under the seat of his motorbike and followed the Batmobile, half-hoping Batman hadn't notice the toy bear.

Partway to the Batcave Robin pulled over, realising he could be playing right into Riddler's hands by taking the teddy-bear. He pulled the teddy out from under his seat and a hand-held metal-detector out of his utility belt. He ran the device over the toy until satisfied it wasn't bugged. Then, he roared after Batman on his motorbike.

Batman didn't ask any questions when Robin arrived at the Batcave some twenty minutes later; in fact, Batman didn't say anything at all, he just changed into civilian clothes and took the elevator into Wayne Manor. Robin followed suit.

An hour or so later, Dick was sitting at the desk in his room, examining the teddy bear. It was an old toy and had clearly been loved and played with . . . a lot. He could see it had been cared for, despite the fact that he had found it discarded on the floor, which raised the question: Who did it belong to? And where was he or she?

The building had been abandoned for years, Robin knew that for a fact, and the whole place was a tumbledown wreak; except for that one room. It had been arranged and kept in order, and Dick wondered why.

After pondering his questions for a while, Dick logged onto his computer. Using basic sites he surfed the internet trying to find any information on the house; he found nothing, aside from a site saying it had been on and off the sales market for several years. With a growl, he went to work. He hacked the Gotham City's Police Department's computer system and looked for answers there; he found what he was looking for; a list of previous residents and a report on a missing child.

The house had been owned by several different families, all hadn't stayed long. The most recent residents had moved out three years previous after their six-year-old daughter had mysteriously disappeared from her room on the third floor; the same room Robin had found the teddy-bear in.

The family's name was Reagan, and the little girl was an only child named Jillian. The family had moved away after her disappearance, but were unable to sell the house.

_Why didn't they just knock it down? _Robin wondered, he exited the police site, covering his tracks so no-one would ever know he'd been there. He found a newspaper article claiming that no-one would buy the house, and the family didn't want to demolish the place. _So they left it to rot? There's gotta be another reason._ Dick thought, but he couldn't find anything else, just the same information written in different ways and forms.

With a sigh Dick logged off his computer, changed into pyjamas and tumbled into his bed. _I'll sleep on it. _He thought, and closed his eyes.

_. . . Or not. _He countered several hours later as he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling; not feeling even a little sleepy. He sat up and glared at the teddy-bear, sitting on the shelf he had shoved it onto, staring at him with its blank, button eyes. He threw a pillow at it. _Stupid Teddy!_ Dick growled and rolled onto the floor. He changed into a jumpsuit and went off to train; to try to take his mind off the stuffed toy and maybe even tire himself out enough to sleep.

He jumped around in the training room for a while, fighting an imaginary opponent. He dodged and faked and leaped away from invisible blows, but soon was repeating the same routing over and over again. He tried using things in the room as obstacles, weapons and shields but quickly got tired of that as well.

_Tired._ He wiped the sweat off his face wearily and stumbled upstairs. _School tomorrow. _He thought absently; _Hope I sleep well . . . enough. _

It was wishful thinking . . .


	2. Ch 2 TEDDY

**Author's Note: Hi! Thank you soooo much if you're reading this! This is my second chapter, and I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please Review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 2: TEDDY**

Dick squinted at the bright light that shone in his eyes and rolled over with a groan. _It can't be morning already! I just went to sleep!_ he exclaimed mentally. Alfred squeezed his shoulder again. "It is time to get up, Master Richard. You are going to be late for school."

Dick sat up wearily, feeling all the tiredness that had evaded him the night before. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, before falling back onto his pillows as soon as the butler left the room. He closed his heavy eyelids and rolled onto his side; but just he began to slip away Alfred's footsteps coming up the hall woke him again. His eyes opened slightly, then widened and he jerked away with a shout of surprise when he found himself face to face with the teddy bear. He fell of the bed and landed on the floor in a tangle of blankets with a 'thud'.

Alfred rushed into the room with Bruce close behind as Dick struggled to his feet, wriggling free from the blankets and throwing them aside. "H-how . . . what . . . How did that get there!" Dick exclaimed, pointing at the teddy bear, which was lying against his pillows as calmly as if it had been there forever.

Alfred stood in the doorway silently, before moving forward and beginning to make Dick's bed without a comment. Bruce looked from his ward to the teddy and back with a funny expression on his face. "Didn't you put it there?"

Dick stared at it as Alfred arranged the pillows and placed it against them gently. "No, I didn't put it there!" Dick exclaimed, "I left it on the shelf!"

Bruce frowned, then shrugged. "Get ready for school, you don't want to be late." He turned and left without another word. Alfred finished flattening out the blankets on Dick's bed then followed suit. Dick stared at the teddy bear, resting calmly against the pillows. He picked it up and shoved it onto the shelf again before storming out of his room to have a shower.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Hey, Dick!" Barbra greeted him cheerfully at the gates of Gotham Academy. She glanced at him briefly before exclaiming: "Whoa, are you OK? You look half dead."

Dick shifted his backpack on his shoulders, "I feel half dead!"

"Didn't sleep well?" Barbra suggested.

"You have no idea."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

_Bored, bored, bored, bored, BORED! _Wally grumbled mentally as he sat with his arms folded and resting on his desk at school. He rested his head on his arms and absently flicked his pencil up the slanted desktop; it rolled back to him and he flicked it again, and again, and again, and _again_ until it rolled off the desk and clattered to the floor. Sending an apologetic look to his teacher, Wally picked up the pencil and sat up straight . . . ish. After a while he slumped forward again and proceeded with his pencil-flicking.

"So . . . Mr West, what is the answer?" his teacher asked him suddenly.

Wally bolted upright and glanced at the board desperately; seeing a symbol written largely on the centre he answered, "Pi."

The teacher's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly hid his shock. "Why . . . yes, it is. I guess you _were_ paying attention." He turned back to the board.

_Whew! _Wally exhaled, slumping into his chair again. _That was a close one! _

The resounding ring of the lunch bell echoed through the room and Wally jumped out of his seat in unison with the whole class. _YES!_ he cheered mentally; _LUNCH! The best lesson of the day!_

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Barbra and Dick walked towards the cafeteria for lunch, talking quietly to each other. Dick felt much more awake after half a day of lessons, but was still a little sleepy. Suddenly, a bright red rubber ball came from nowhere and smacked him in the back of the head with a 'DWOINK'. Dick stumbled forward but quickly caught himself.

He bent down and picked up the ball, tossing it up and catching it a few times. _Hey! I should get myself one of these!_

"Hey, sorry for hitting you dude!" someone spoke up, it was another boy about Dick age; a boy he knew well enough. Brody Simpson, a class clown and a bully. Luckily for Dick, Brody wasn't in any of his classes; Barbra wasn't so lucky. She folded her arms and glared a Brody, he smirked at her and held out his hand to Dick, "Gimme my ball back . . . please." To Barbra's shock and Brody's surprise Dick handed it over without protest. Brody's grin widened and he stalked away with his ball.

"Why'd you give it to him?" Barbra hissed as she and Dick continued on their way.

"Because it's his and he asked for it nicely." Dick replied. Barbra rolled her eyes.

They retrieved their lunches and found an empty table to sit at. Brody and his friends sat down two tables away, unnoticed to both Dick and Barbra until they began talking loudly. Still, the two teens payed little attention to them; until a sudden flash of red caught Dick's eye.

"Hey Barbra, look at this!" Dick leaned forward and pointed at a spot of mould on the table. Barbra leaned forward as well and the rubber ball sped over both their heads and smacked into the teacher standing behind Barbra; making him drop his lunch-tray.

Barbra wrinkled her nose at the fungus on the table and sat up. "That's so disgusting!" she exclaimed, as the angry teacher stormed over to Brody's table and yanked the student to his feet; demanding an explanation. The noisy laughter of the boys at Brody's table was replaced by a heated argument; but Barbra, oblivious to the events going on around her, was bawling Dick out about making her look at the mould. Dick had turned around to watch Brody getting his due and wasn't listening to a word she said. It wasn't until the teacher stormed away to the principal's office with the ball in one hand and Brody's shirt-collar in the other that Barbra stopped talking and payed attention to what was going on.

As Brody was pulled past Dick's table he sent him a dirty look. "Watch your back, Grayson!" he growled quietly, "This isn't over!"

Dick and Barbra sat in silence and watched him leave. "So, what are you doing after school, Dick?" Barbra asked casually, as though nothing had happened.

_Training!_ Dick thought excitedly, "Oh, not much." he replied calmly "Probably just gonna study, do my homework and try to catch up on some sleep."

Barbra nodded slowly. "Seriously, is sitting around and studying all you ever do? You must have the boringest life ever! You need to get out more often!"

Dick choked on his drink. "Sorry." He coughed, "It went down the wrong way."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Recognised: Robin, B01" The automated voice of the zeta tubes announced as Robin arrived at the cave. In his hands was a newly-acquired rubber ball. It was about 1/2 a foot in diameter and electric blue in colour with a smiley face on it. He moved into the lounge to wait for training

He sat on one of the couches and tossed his ball into the air and caught it a few times thoughtfully; he couldn't get the thought of the teddy-bear off his mind. When Wally arrived and sped over to him he didn't seem to notice, but after a few seconds he said randomly: "Wally, do you want a teddy-bear?"

Wally stared at him as though he had an extra head for almost a whole minute before slowly saying: "No . . . but I do want one of these though!" He zipped forward and caught Robin's ball out of the air.

"Hey!" Robin shouted, leaping to his feet, "Wally! That's new!"

Wally laughed and sped away from his younger friend tossing the ball around and dodging Robin's annoyed attempts at getting the ball back. Wally started playing a game of catch with himself and Robin seemed to give up chasing him.

The speedster stated to randomly throw the ball at Robin. The first two shots Robin dodged, the third he tried to catch. _Tried._ Wally dashed in front of him and snatched it away with an evil laugh before resuming tossing it around. He ditched it at Robin again, but the ninja had already moved.

The ball flew through the air into the next room and smacked into Superboy's ear. The clone turned with a growl and glared daggers at the speedster. Robin grabbed his ball and disappeared.

Wally stood silently with Superboy glaring and growling at him, before speeding off to the training room when the teleporters announced the arrival of Black Canary.

After a few tips on fighting multiple enemies at once, Black Canary told the whole team to stand on the training floor and instructed them on what they were to do; "It's all on all. No ganging up, no powers, defend only yourself and attack everyone else. GO!"

For ten whole seconds the team stood in shocked silence, unsure what to do; then Superboy rushed at Wally with a roar and the whole room was soon filled with shouts and thuds as battle broke out between the six teens.

No-one fought with the same person for long, and within three minutes everyone had fought with everyone else at least twice. Canary left them to their battles and stood by, watching quietly; pointing out flaws and giving random tips to no-one in particular.

After half an hour of all-on-all Canary proclaimed the battle over and the teens all stepped apart. All of them were gasping for breath and dripping with sweat, minus Superboy, who was only sweating slightly and growling every time he exhaled.

Canary gave them a few more pointers before dismissing the group. Artemis and M'gann went off together, and Superboy went to his room to calm down. Aqualad went back to Atlantis and Wally rushed off to nurse his bruises. Robin grabbed his ball went back to the Batcave.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin went straight to the showers, and emerged a little while later wearing civvies. He went straight to his room, saw the teddy bear sitting on his bed, shoved the stuffed toy onto the shelf and walked out again. He went downstairs to the lounge area where he'd dumped his schoolbag in his rush to get to training and grabbed out his geography homework.

_Sinch._

Three minutes later he put it back and pulled out his biology book.

When he'd completed all his assigned homework, and a little extra, he packed up his bag and took it upstairs to his room. The teddy bear was sitting smugly on his bed. Robin frowned and shoved it onto his shelf again. He hopped on his computer and hacked into the police site again and searched to see if he had missed anything. _Nothing new._ He sighed and logged off the site.

Just as he was logging off his computer, a little light flashed onto the screen. A grin spread across Robin's face as he saw the alert to a robbery in progress and he jumped to his feet, _action at last!_ He turned to rush out of the room and caught sight of the teddy bear, sitting plainly on his shelf. He frowned, and shoved it into his trash basket on the way out of the room. He grabbed his suit and rushed down to the Batcave. _Yes!_ he cheered mentally, _A mission!_


	3. Ch 3 CABBAGE

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 3! I hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 3: CABBAGE**

Robin dodged another blast of ice and Mr Freeze swung his giant gun towards the teen hero again. Robin flipped away and the bright blue beam smashed into a lamp post. Mr Freeze glared at the little ninja and shot at him again. This time, Robin threw two different batrangs at the gun as he flipped through the air. The first batrang slammed into the gun and knocked Freeze off balance. The second embedded itself into the side of the gun and beeped twice before exploding.

Freeze reeled backwards and dropped what was left of his huge gun before rushing at Robin. Robin flipped away and Batman slammed into Freeze from behind; finally finished with his mini battle against two thugs. Freeze was quickly apprehended and the police arrived to escort him to prison.

Batman and Robin headed home. Robin went straight up to his room. The teddy bear was sitting on his bed. He frowned and grabbed it. He rushed downstairs and shoved it into the trash can in the kitchen; before heading upstairs again and going to bed.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick's eyes snapped open and he sat up and yawned. "Ah! Another beautiful day . . ." he saw the teddy bear sitting on the pillow beside him, ". . . ruined." He laughed in spite of himself and picked it up, before narrowing his eyes and glaring at it. Something wasn't right. How did it get all the way up to his room from the kitchen?

He hurriedly got dressed for school and grabbed his bag. He shoved his teddy and his ball into it and rushed downstairs. After breakfast he grabbed a full garbage can and kindly offered to take it outside. He slipped out the back door and emptied the trash into the big bin outside. He opened his backpack and pulled out the teddy.

He was about to put in it the bin when he when he noticed a little girl across the street; sitting on the curb crying. He hurried over and tried to comfort her. "Hey, it's all right! What's wrong?"

She looked up at him tearfully. "I'm not s'posed to talk to 'trangers."

Dick smiled. "I'm not a stranger, I'm a neighbour! I live right there." He pointed across the road.

The little girl's eyes widened "In that BIG house?"

Dick nodded, and saw that he was still holding the teddy and the ball. "Hey, do you want a teddy bear?" he held it out. She nodded and accepted it gently. _Problem solved!_ Dick thought, relieved.

"Teddy-bear." The little girl said softly, then she saw the ball and her eyes lit up. "Ball! _My _Ball! You founded my ball!" she excitedly snatched the ball and hugged it. "I losted it, but you founded it! Tank you 'tranger!" she dropped the teddy and waddled away.

Dick stared after her with his mouth hanging open. He picked up the teddy and crossed the road again. He dumped the teddy in the bin, picked up the discarded paper basket and went back inside. Alfred dropped him off at school.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally rested his head on his desk wearily. _Yawn! I'm hating maths!_ He was almost asleep when . . .

"Mr West! What is the answer?"

Wally bolted upright and glanced at the board desperately. "Pi!" he announced.

"Correct." Mr Soanso said, "Now what was the question?"

Wally glanced around the room. "Uhhh . . ."

"Please stay after class."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After school, Dick bought a new rubber ball on his way home. When he arrived at Wayne Manor, he rushed upstairs to his room. There was no teddy sitting on his bed. He turned to the shelf; no teddy there either.

He fist pumped the air with a whoop and set about doing his homework. When he'd finished his dashed off to the teleporters and Zeta'd to the cave for training.

He arrived early and walked into the lounge room. Kaldur and Atremis were sitting on the rug, discussing something. Kid Flash was sitting on the couch beside Superboy, complaining about how the clone only wanted to watch the static on the screen. Robin sat down beside Artemis.

"Ooh! I just found something AMAZING out!" M'gann exclaimed as she flew into the lounge room excitedly. Artemis, Robin and Kaldur looked up expectantly. Superboy remained sitting on the couch, staring at the static on the TV screen.

KF zipped over to stand beside Miss Martian. "What is it?" he asked.

Miss Martian jumped up and down excitedly, "If you say 'cabbage' when you need to sneeze; you don't need to sneeze anymore!"

The team stared at her, eyebrows raised; all but Superboy, who stared at the fuzzy TV screen expressionlessly.

"How does that work?" Artemis asked, with a funny look on her face.

"I don't know!" M'gann exclaimed excitedly "But it works! I tried it! You should too!"

The others stared at her. "But I don't need to sneeze." Artemis said finally.

An evil grin spread across Kid Flash's face and he zipped out of the room. He zoomed back in a few seconds later, "Hey Artemis!" The archer turned to look at him and he blew some powder off his hand and into her face.

"Ahh!" she coughed a few times, then; "Ahh, ahh-ah-ah-ah. . ."

"Say 'cabbage!'" Miss Martian exclaimed.

"Cab-bage!"

"Again! Keep saying it!" M'gann urged her.

"Cabbage! Cabbage! . . . Cabbage-cabbage . . . cab-, cabbage-cabbage, cabbage, _cabbage_, CABBAGE, cabbage. Cabbage. Cabbage." The urge to sneeze went away and she looked up, "Hey! It worked!"

Kid Flash looked down at the powder left in his hand, "Hey, it worked!" he laughed. Artemis smacked him in the back of the head and he smacked his hand into his face accidentally; white powder poofed up around his face. "Ahh, ah-ah-ah, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, _cabbage_, _cabbage_, CABBAGE!" He stopped and laughed again, "Hey! It _does_ work! Ha!"

"Recognised: Black Canary 13" The team rushed to the training room. After a few one-on-one sparring sessions she pegged them all against Robin.

"Wha-at!" his mouth fell open and Kid Flash laughed.

"No powers!" Black Canary announced, "I want to see you use the things I've taught you."

The team promptly all leapt at Robin. He dodged. After fifteen minutes of the others frantically trying to attach the little ninja, and the bird himself doing no more than running round and round and dodging, Canary called them off.

They split up and Robin wandered over the lounge and collapsed on the couch with a "Whew!"

KF zoomed into the room, took one look at the panting Robin and laughed. "Too much for you, huh?"

"_You're_ not." Robin scoffed "But the others, _well_, I'm just glad you guys weren't using your powers."

Kid Flash poked his tongue at Robin and zoomed away, but the little ninja didn't see.

Robin got up and exited through the teleporters. He arrived the Batcave and Batman was taking off his suit. Bruce looked his ward up and down, before saying "Hit the hay. There's nothing on tonight."

Robin gratefully walked upstairs and entered his room. He froze. Sitting on his bad, as smugly as could be, was the teddy bear; its button eyes staring at him. Robin frowned and went to his desk. He rummaged through a drawer until he found what he was looking for.

A box. A box with a tiny pea sized camera he had been connecting to his computer. He set to work on connecting it, and went to bed triumphantly. _Tomorrow, tomorrow I will know who is doing this._

He turned off the lights and went to bed.


	4. Ch 4 GREEN SLIME

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Please keep reading, and reviewing! I hope you find this funny!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 4: GREEN SLIME**

Robin woke up early and found the teddy sitting on the pillow beside him again. He picked it up and took it to his desk. He carefully placed the camera behind one of the teddy's button eyes, so the tiny lens was peeking out through a button hole. He made sure the camera was on and hooked wirelessly to his computer before leaving for school.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally sat upright in class, paying careful attention. _I am soooooo not getting in trouble again!_ He thought.

"Mr West! What is the answer?"

Wally smiled smugly to himself; he knew the answer, it was pi again! He opened his mouth to answer when something tickled his nose. He felt a sneeze coming on; "Cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, CABBAGE!" the urge to sneeze went away. The class and Mr Soanso were staring at him. "A-CHOO!" Wally's sneeze came from nowhere and blew all his notes into the air. Several kids laughed, most stared.

"Mr West, sneeze - I mean please! - stay after class."

Students snickered and Wally's face turned beet red.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick arrived home after school and dashed upstairs. The teddy bear was sitting on his bed again. He rushed over to his computer and played the film backwards quickly. He saw something, stopped it and played it forwards.

The screen showed the teddy bear's view of the room from the shelf; looking down on Dick's bed. Then the screen went fuzzy and static-y before showing the teddy bear's _new_ view of the room; staring towards the door.

Robin fast forwarded it again until it showed any more movement; it was himself, appearing at the door and rushing off the screen to check the computer.

"Some sort of scrambler messed with my device." He though out loud, and got to work on fixing a different device; one that could hear! He finished it and held the tiny device up to the light. It was disguised as a small round Band-Aid. To test it, he held it behind his head and spoke. His voice came through clearly to the other half of the device, the tiny hearing-aid in his ear. Robin grinned. _Now to test it long distance, I think I know just the person to help me with this._ He went off to training.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Ooh! I have a great idea for a game!" M'gann exclaimed as she flew into the lounge room of the cave excitedly.

Robin, KF, Artemis and Superboy looked up. "Huh?" they all asked simultaneously.

Miss Martian landed in front of them and explained. "It's called 'Green Slime!' Everyone picks something to say; like 'green slime' or 'chocolate blocks' or raspberry mousse' or 'red rabbit' or something like that! Something _random_! And . . . and, and, and, and . . ." she stopped, laughing.

"And. . ?" Artemis pushed

"And. . . and whenever anyone asks you a question that's what you have to say!"

The others stared at her.

"It sounds like fun!" she exclaimed, "Common! And if you say something else, you lose!"

"Hey, that does sound like fun. . ." Artemis though aloud.

Kid Flash jumped up, "I am going to say 'burritos'!" he announced "And I am going to be CHAMPION! Someone ask me a question! I WILL NOT LOSE!"

Robin cackled, "You do realise that it has to be two words you say right? 'Burritos' doesn't count, you know?"

"Wha-at? She never said that?" Kid Flash exclaimed

Robin cackled again "You lose."

"Aww, man! That doesn't count!" he protested.

"Fine!" Artemis waved her hand airily. "But I agree with Robin, it should be two words. I dibs 'green slime' by the way; is that all right?" She turned to M'gann.

"Sure!" the Martian exclaimed, "I want 'raspberry mousse'!" she flew into the kitchen.

"What about you, Superboy?" Artemis inquired.

The clone shrugged absently, "'Dead monkeys'?" he walked off.

Artemis stared at him, "What about you two?" she turned to Robin and Kid Flash.

"'Taco Sauce'!" Kid Flash announced "I bet Rob will chose 'teddy bear'!"

Robin glared at the speedster coldly, "Rubber ball'!" he said icily and ditched his new red rubber ball at Wally. It smacked into the speedster's ear with a 'twoink!' and almost knocked him over. Robin retrieved his ball quickly.

Wally glared at the now laughing Robin, "What'd you do that for!"

"Rubber Ball!"

Wally pulled a face. "I'm gonna win!"

"Really?" Robin quirked an eyebrow behind his shades

"Ye- Taco Sauce!" Wally caught himself and shouted triumphantly.

Robin rolled his eyes and turned to Artemis. "We're gonna beat him, aren't we?"

"Green Slime!" She agreed.

Miss Martian flew into the room with a tray of cups and spoons, Superboy followed her.

"Hey! Miss M! Watcha have there?"

"Raspberry mousse!" she called and placed the tray on the table. There were 5 cups filled with creamy raspberry mousse sitting on the tray.

"Oooh! Raspberry Mousse!" Wally exclaimed, snatching a cup and spoon off the tray.

"Hey!" Robin exclaimed, turning to Miss Martian "Is he allowed to say your words?"

"I don't know?" M'gann replied thoughtfully "I . . ."

"You're out!" Robin laughed.

Miss Martian stood shocked for a full minute, and then laughed "Oh! I answered your question!"

"I guess it's just me, you and Superboy." Artemis said to Robin.

"No!" Kid Flash shouted "My first out didn't count! I'm still in!"

Robin laughed "Fine! But I bet you couldn't survive long!"

"I bet I could!"

"20 bucks you couldn't stay in for 24 hours!" Robin shouted

Wally took the bait "I could so! I'm gonna answer every single question I'm asked with 'taco sauce' for the next 24 hours!" He marched away.

"Sweet!" Robin cackled "See you after school tomorrow!"

Kid Flash stopped dead in his tracks. "Damn."


	5. Ch 5 TACO SAUCE

**Author's Note: Hello! Thank you soo much for the reviews! I really hope you like this chapter; it was a brainstorm I had at school that it thought would make a good story . . . actually, the last two were as well . . . :) heheh**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 5: TACO SAUCE**

"Recognised: Black Canary 13." Black Canary walked into the training room, "Who's ready for training?"

"Taco Sauce!" Kid Flash announced.

"What?"

"Taco Sauce." KF repeated

"Huh?" Black Canary asked, confused.

"Taco. Sauce." Kid Flash repeated slowly, in a tone that indicated that Black Canary was stupid.

Black Canary stared at him "Are you hungry or something?"

"Taco Sauce!"

Black Canary turned to the others "What is going on?"

"Green Slime!" Artemis replied

"Rubber Ball!" Rabin called, ditching it at Wally again. It hit the speedster's ear again and Robin retrieved it quickly.

"I'm sorry, am I missing something?" Black Canary asked, confused.

"Raspberry mousse!" M'gann exclaimed, offering the hero a cup of the dessert and a spoon.

"Black Canary declined and turned to Superboy "Where's Aqualad?"

"Dead Monkeys" Superboy growled.

"Not you too!" Black Canary exclaimed, then was serious again, "No really, where is he?"

"Dead Monkeys."

"Will someone please answer me!" Black Canary exploded.

"We have been answering you!" Miss Martian exclaimed, before slapping her hand over her mouth.

"You lose!" the team chorused, M'gann's shoulders drooped.

"Tell me what is going on!" Black Canary demanded.

"Green slime." Artemis replied promptly

"Raspberry mousse!" M'gann offered again.

"Dead Monkeys!" Superboy growled

"Rubber ball!" Robin yelled.

"TACO SAUCE!" Kid Flash shouted, and then "OW!" as Robin's ball smacked into his head, again.

Black Canary glared at them, "That was an order!"

"Oh! It wasn't a question!" Miss Martian exclaimed, "We're playing a game! We have to answer all questions with a certain two words." She explained.

Black Canary nodded slowly. She called Artemis and Kid Flash over to the training floor and ordered them to spar.

Kid Flash happily zoomed round and round Artemis, laughing. "I _told_ you I could run circles around you!" Artemis tried to hit him, but Wally was never where she attacked. "You know I'm gonna win right?" he taunted.

"You wanna bet?" Artemis growled

"Taco Sauce!" Kid Flash cried triumphantly "You lose!"

Artemis growled and thrust her arm out. Kid Flash ran straight into it and she threw him on the ground hard, winding him. "_You_ lose!" she shouted and walked away.

KF lay on the training floor for several minutes before Robin appeared and stared down at him. "You OK?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"Taco sauce." Wally wheezed.

"No, seriously, are you all right?" Robin insisted

"Taco sauce."

"You're not gonna let me win, are you?"

"Taco sauce."

Robin held out his hand and helped his friend to his feet. He gave him a pat on the back on the back, depositing his bug on KF's neck without him realising it. "You should go home. Don't fail."

KF went home.

"Hi honey, you hungry?" Wally's mom called as soon as he walked through the door.

"Taco sauce." He mumbled.

She didn't hear him and walked out of the kitchen and gave Wally a hug, "Guess what's for dinner?"

"Taco sauce?"

She gave him a weird look, "N-nooo . . ." She pulled a large casserole out of the oven and placed it on the table in front of the chair he'd collapsed on. "If you want taco sauce I can make some."

"No, I'm fine." Wally insisted, digging into his food hungrily.

"You sure?"

"Taco sauce."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Morning hon, how are you?" Mrs West asked when Wally staggered into the kitchen at 8:00am.

"Taco sauce. What's for breakfast?"

His mom grinned, "Food."

Four plates of bacon, eggs, tomato sauce and toast later Wally was on his way to school.

"Yo dude! What's up?" one friend greeted him, his hand up for a high five.

Wally stopped walking, "Taco sauce." He mumbled, and walked away leaving his friend hanging.

"Hey, Wally! What's the time?"

"Taco sauce."

Joe stared at him, "O-Kaaay, then." He walked away.

"Hey Wally, what lesson do we have before lunch?"

_Science_, Wally though "Taco sauce." He replied

"I said _before_ lunch; not what do you have _for_ lunch, moron!"

"Science." Wally replied, _She didn't ask a question!_ He assured himself, _I'm not out! Whew! This is harder than I thought!_

He got through most of the day without saying the wrong thing, or being called on in class. He was up to his last lesson of the day, Maths, and he was paying attention. He hoped beyond all hope that he wouldn't be called on to answer a question.

Three minutes to go and . . . "Mr West! Please answer the problem on page 72 for us."

Wally gulped and read the problem: Find the volume of a rectangular prism with a width of 7cm, a length of 10cm, and a depth of 1m. _Yes!_ He cheered mentally, _no question marks_! "Well," he began, "1 metre is 100 centimetres, so the equation is 100 X 10 X 7. 10 X 7 is 70, and 70 X 100 is 7000. The answer is 7000 centimetres."

"Very good!" Mr Soanso praised him, "What is that amount in metres?"

_Uh oh, a question mark!_ Wally thought _Well, Robin couldn't possibly know . . ._ "70 metres!" Wally announced.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin laughed to himself. The tiny device in his ear allowed him to listen to all of Wally's conversations. He heard all!

Very good! Now what is that amount in metres?

Seventy metres.

_Ha! You lose Wally! _Robin triumphed. His eavesdropping device worked.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally walked into the training room, triumphantly.

"Pay up, Wally!" Artemis shouted, "Robin wins!"

"Whaaa- . . ?" Wally's mouth fell open "Rob hasn't won!"

Robin laughed and pressed the button on the radio he had hooked his listening device to; Mr Soanso's voice blared into the room Very good! Now what is that amount in metres? Wally's voice, loud and clear replied: Seventy metres.

Wally's mouth fell open again. "But, but, but, but, but I was in _Maths_ class!" he protested "I would have gotten detention! And how . . ? Were you spying on me?" he pointed an accusing finger at Robin.

"Rubber ball!" the bright red ball smacked into Wally's face _again_ and Robin picked it up quickly with an evil laugh. Then he proceeded to remove the bug from Kid Flash's neck. He held it up for his friend to see.

"You bugged me?"

"Yep!"

"Why? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you! But I figured you'd try to get out of it and I needed to test the bug, so it was a win-win . . . for me anyway. Pay up."

Wally stared before sighing and looking down at his feet. "I can't." he mumbled, "I'm broke, and I kinda forgot about the money part . . ."

Robin patted his back again. "It's Ok, I'll just put it on your credit. Let's see, you owe me . . . $46 now?" KF groaned. "I'm just kidding!" Robin laughed. "Testing a bug for me counts as a paying job, I think, so consider your debt paid."

KF stared after him as Robin wandered into the training room. "Hey!" he suddenly realised, "You answered my questions."

Robin's laugh echoed through the cave, "Duh! We all quit playing after you left yesterday! I won, by the way; Superboy answered M'gann when she offered to turn the TV on for him. And because you got out straight away yesterday, I was proclaimed champion." He turned and stuck his tongue out at his friend.


	6. Ch 6 SCRAMBLED

**Author's Note: Sorry that the teddy wasn't in the last chapter; it was about Wally and mostly just for laughs! Thank you for the reviews! I hope you like this one. And a special thanks to my friend Prickle for the GREEN SLIME idea, and to Goldenstripe2510, my editor.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 6: SCRAMBLED**

Back at Wayne Manor, Robin sat in his room at his desk, wearing civvies, and tinkering with yet _another_ spying device; one that could see and hear. He finished it, hooked it to his computer, and turned it on so it was watching the bed. Then he made a point of knocking the teddy-bear onto the floor as he exited the room.

He re-entered the room again an hour later having eaten his dinner, and found the teddy sitting on his bed again. He rushed over to his laptop and selected the playback of the spy device. Same as before, the screen went fuzzy for a moment, and the teddy had moved. Robin growled and shut down his device.

_Think!_ He frowned in concentration. _It's electromagnetic interference, _he concluded, _someone is carrying a scrambler which is shutting down my bugs. But who? And why?_

A light flashed onto his computer screen, another mission. He quickly logged off and rushed down to the Batcave.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

A gang fight; guns and other weapons plus angry thugs looking for trouble was what Batman and Robin found when they arrived at the site of the alert. Before the thugs knew it, the two heroes were among them silently taking out people from both sides of the fight until there were only a few left. They seemed to realise that their comrades had not fallen to the enemy, and they all became nervous. The gunfire ceased as the thugs lowered their guns and glanced around warily.

Robin and Batman leapt forward at the same time and knocked out a thug each before disappearing. The remaining thugs pointed their guns towards their fallen comrades; two more were promptly taken out, then another pair. Soon there were three left. Two batrangs knocked out two men, and the remaining thug waved his gun around wildly.

Robin's cackle echoed through the alley and the man frantically swished his gun back and forth, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. There was a 'whoosh' and the flap of a cape and he spun around to see Robin crouched in the alleyway. He pointed his gun at the teen and moved a quivering finger towards the trigger. Robin flipped into the air and Batman slammed into the thug from behind, knocking him out cold with a hit to the back of the head.

Batman called the police and the Dynamic Duo left the scene.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Back at Wayne Manor, Robin went up to his room and found the teddy still sitting on his bed. He shoved it on the shelf and went to bed.

In the morning, the teddy was sitting on the pillow again. Dick picked it up and shoved it into his school bag with his rubber ball. He left very early and walked to school. It was a long way, but that didn't matter.

He passed a day-care centre and saw two little boys, fighting over a stuffed dog. He went over to them and pulled the teddy out of his back-pack. "Hey! Do you want this?"

One little boy stared at him and the other snatched the toy dog away, poking his tongue out at his friend and dashing away. The first little boy stared at Dick "No." he saw the ball in Dick's backpack and snatched it up. "Can I have this though?" without waiting for an answer the boy dashed off.

Dick sighed and shoved the teddy back in his bag. He continued on his way to school.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally sat up perfectly straight in his Science class. He paid careful attention to every word his teacher said. He took notes, he listened carefully. _Today!_ He triumphed, _Today I will answer correctly! Come on Ms Brown; ask away! I am prepared! Yes I know that too, today –oh-ho-ho! Today – today I will get it right! I am _not_ going to make a fool of myself again! Today I will get the answer right! No-one will laugh at me again; I am going to make myself proud! No-one is going to catch Wallace West off guard with stupid maths questions today! No-ooo! I'm gonna get it right! _

_Yess-er-ee! I'm gonna get it right!_

_. . . I'm gonna answer correctly!_

_. . . Yep! I'm gonna. . ._

"Wally!" Joe hissed

Wally jumped and turned towards his friend. "huh?"

"Dude! The bell rang for lunch, like, three minutes ago! You've been sitting there in your own world with that stupid grin on your face for the whole lesson! What gives?"

"Ahhh . . . I'm just happy, that's all." Wally mumbled and quickly packed up his things, his face turning red, and left the classroom.

Joe stared after him with one eyebrow raised. "Uh-huh. If you say so."

_Wally, you idiot!_ Wally berated himself, _You darn, stupid idiot!_

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick bought another rubber ball on his way home from school. As he was exiting the toy store he offered his teddy to a toddler walking by with her mother. The mother smiled "That's so sweet." She murmured.

The little girl looked at the teddy in one if Dick's hands, frowned, and grabbed the ball from his other hand before walking off with her mother.

Dick stared disbelievingly after them, before going back into the store and buying another ball.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick entered his room and smiled when he saw that the teddy wasn't sitting on his bed; then he frowned when he remembered that it was in his backpack.

He dumped his backpack on the floor and plonked onto his bed, deep in thought. Whoever was moving the teddy seemed insistent that it had to stay on Dick's bed, and they also managed to remain undetected by his bugs. Electromagnetic interference, they must carry a scrambler.

_A scrambler. . . _he frownedin thought, but was interrupted when an alarm went off on his watch. _Training! Right!_ He changed into civvies quickly and grabbed his backpack and zeta'd to the cave.

He arrived a second or two after Red Arrow. "Hey Roy!" Robin greeted him. Red Arrow nodded in greeting. Robin shrugged off his backpack, and realised that he'd bought his ball and the teddy. "I swear this thing is haunting me!" he muttered shoving the teddy deeper into his bag.

"What?" Red Arrow asked.

"Roy, do you want a teddy-bear?" Robin asked without thinking.

Red Arrow stared at him "No!" he stalked off.

"Neither do I!" Robin growled.

Robin entered the training room and found Miss Martian talking to Superboy and Wally. He held up the teddy, "Do either of you want this?"

Wally choked and laughed, "Not this again!" Robin ditched his ball at the speedster and caught it when it rebounded off Wally's face.

Superboy raised an eyebrow, "No."

M'gann held it up, "Oh! It's so _cute_!" she looked at the ball in Robin's hand, "OOH! A _ball_! Can I have it?"

Robin rolled his eyes, "Sure. Everyone else takes my ball, it won't make any difference."

M'gann looked slightly hurt, "I didn't mean . . ."

Robin handed her the ball, "It's OK, take it. I can get another one."

Wally was still laughing, "Ha! A teddy-bear! A _teddy_-bear! Robin has a teddy bear! Ha-ha-ha!" M'gann frowned and ditched the ball at Wally's face. He reeled backwards and she grabbed it quickly. "Heh! That's fun! I see why you like to do it!" she said to Robin, he grinned back at her.

_Team! Suit up and report to mission room!_ Batman's voice boomed through the speaker system.

The teens rushed off.


	7. Ch 7 TRACER

**Author's Note: Ookaaayy . . . this one is kinda long, and is what Goldenstripe calls a cliff-hanger. Sorry if I put you in suspense, but I'm probably not going to be posting the next one until later, just to keep you lovely peoples on the edge of your seats. Please review! I want to know what you think about my suspense.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 7: TRACER**

Aqualad dodged the huge hook swung his way and turned his water-bearers into two swords. He leapt into an attack on Hook, while Kid Flash and Miss Martian fought against Black Spider. The speedster and the Martian dodged blast after blast of sticky red web, and didn't pay much attention when Superboy burst out of the thicket with a roar; finally back from wherever he'd been hit to by Hook's huge hook. He jumped back into battle beside Aqualad.

Artemis fired arrow after arrow at Cheshire, who dodged them, or broke them with her sword, or caught them and threw them back towards her foe. Robin found an opening and leapt at the assassin; she batted him away and threw him to the ground. He flipped over and attacked again. _The tracer is planted._ He informed the team over the telepathic mind-link.

_Good._ Aqualad replied and attacked Hook again.

Artemis finally realised that her attacks on Cheshire were futile, and she and Kid Flash switched places. She attacked Black Spider and KF rushed to help Robin. The two fought harder, and were close to apprehending the assassin when Superboy was whacked aside by Hook again and slammed into Kid Flash. Both went down and Cheshire knocked Robin aside. "See you 'round." She whispered, before vanishing into the midnight air. Robin glanced around, at his teammates fighting their foes before vanishing into the forest after Cheshire.

Robin took to the trees and followed silently, Cheshire made no noise and seemed to fade in and out of the shadows like a ghost.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Back at the clearing, the rest of the team managed to apprehend Black Spider and Hook. Only when they'd finished did they realise that Robin had disappeared. Kid Flash grabbed the tracer and dashed into the forest after Cheshire. Superboy grabbed the villains and took them back to Batman's rendezvous where they would be taken to Belle Reve.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Cheshire stopped for a second and Robin froze, holding his breath. Cheshire deftly plucked the tracking device off her back and dropped it onto the soft pine needle-carpeted forest floor before dashing off into in a different direction.

Robin silently leapt down to the ground and picked up the tracer. If the team couldn't follow Cheshire, at least they could follow him to her. He silently followed the assassin again.

Robin took to the trees again, and soon found himself on the outskirts of a small clearing. Directly below him, Cheshire was crouched behind a bush. KF sped into the clearing from the opposite side, "I can see you!" he shouted in the direction of Robin and Cheshire "It's no use hiding."

Neither Robin nor Cheshire flinched.

KF started to walk towards Robin in his tree, _He's gonna blow my cover!_ Robin though desperately when he realised it was _him_ not Cheshire that KF could see.

Luckily for Robin, Cheshire didn't make that distinction. She tossed a rock over the speedster's head and it smacked into a bush on the other side of the clearing with a rustle of leaves. Kid Flash turned around and Cheshire dashed away. Robin followed her.

Robin was nimbly travelling through the trees, directly above Cheshire. She stopped for a second and he froze too. He went to drop the tracker onto her, but she looked up . . . straight at him. He froze; she stared directly at him for what seemed like an eternity before rushing away. Robin let out his pent up breath and followed.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Cheshire dashed through another clearing, and was just exiting it when KF zoomed onto the scene. She was in plain sight, and she turned to face the teen hero. Robin was, again, in a tree directly above the villain, and he dropped the tracking device on the ground behind her. Kid Flash took a step towards the assassin, and she took a step back; onto the tracking device. She turned and disappeared again and Robin looked down at the forest floor; the tracking device had attached itself to Cheshire's boot. Robin chuckled to himself and went after Cheshire. He heard KF zoom after them, and hid in the branches of his current tree when Cheshire stopped.

Cheshire removed the tracking device from her boot and dropped it on the ground before dashing off again.

Robin left the device and skulked after her.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Kid Flash found the tracer, sitting on the carpet of pine needles, blinking palely in the midnight darkness. He picked it up and raced off after Cheshire; in the right direction.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Cheshire stopped and looked around, her white grinning-cat mask stared straight at Robin. He froze, wondering if it would work again, but she slowly reached into her tunic; Robin flipped out of the tree and landed on her shoulders before leaping off and throwing a batrang at her. She knocked it aside, and Robin leapt at her. She knocked him aside, and he threw another batrang at her. It landed in front of her feet and exploded just as Kid Flash zoomed into the clearing. Both teen heroes leapt at the smoke, but Cheshire had already vanished.

Robin took a few steps into the forest, but couldn't find any sign of the assassin.

"Dude! What's that?" Kid Flash exclaimed, zipping over to a tumbledown old shack vines and ivy covered the walls and broke through the roof. Robin followed his friend, and both boys cautiously entered the shack.

Moonlight streamed through the large holes in the roof, reflecting off the dust swirling through the air. "Whoa! Look at all this dust!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

Robin wrinkled his nose; there was a queer smell in the air. He covered his mouth with his glove, took a deep breath and held it.

Wally kept zipping around. "Dude, this place is empty! There's nothing here!" He kept exploring, and Robin followed him.

Robin's lungs were burning, and it felt like he'd breathed in burrs. He coughed a few times to clear the tickling.

"Are you all right?" Kid Flash asked, zipping over to his friend.

Robin nodded again and coughed once more for good measure. "I'm fine." Noticing something in a corner he took a step towards it, and staggered dizzily. The world spun and he stood still, taking a few deep breaths.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine." The world stopped spinning, and Robin walked towards the corner. He frowned before leaping back with a gasp. "Wally! We gotta get out of here, now!" He turned and stumbled and began coughing hard, his friend grabbed him and helped him out of the building.

KF staggered a little, feeling dizzy; but he managed to help his friend out of the building. "Robin what was it?" he asked, coughing himself, "Robin?" Robin collapsed outside the shack, his body jerking with his hard coughs. KF coughed the itchiness out of his own throat and helped his friend up, "Robin what was it?"

Robin didn't reply, he just continued coughing. After a while, he gasped; "KF, we need to get away from the building! It's gonna blow."

KF turned around to stare at the shack, before helping his friend up and staggering away from the building. They got away from the shack and the speedster collapsed and coughed hard himself, just as the shack went up in a ball of flame with an earth-shaking 'boom'.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Aqualad, Artemis and Miss Martian found the boys lying on the ground with the smouldering remains of the shack in the clearing behind them. Miss Martian flew over to the boys with a shocked look on her face. She landed beside them and Kid Flash stood up with a faint cough. "Well, that's that." He groaned.

Robin was still coughing, but he didn't respond when Artemis called his name and laid a hand on his arm. "Robin!" she hissed again "ROBIN!"

Aqualad squirted the Robin with water from his water-bearers, and the raven-haired ninja sat up with a groan. "What happened?" he demanded, turning to Kid Flash; who had sat up and was rubbing his head wearily.

"I think I banged my head on that root." Was his reply.

Artemis whacked him on the back of the head. "He _meant_: what happened to the shack and Robin?"

"I don't know." Kid Flash replied, turning to Robin, "Ask the Boy Wonder."

Robin sat up and cleared his throat. "It was Poison Ivy."

"Oh man! Now I'm gonna get a rash!" Wally exclaimed grabbing his hair in distraught.

"Poison ivy doesn't make you cough." Miss Martian said thoughtfully.

"I don't mean the _ivy_ poison ivy!" Robin exclaimed, "I mean the villain, Poison Ivy!"

Artemis and Wally's faces paled. Miss Martian turned Caucasian, frowned down at herself and turned green again. Aqualad wasn't fazed. "What do you mean?"

"We were in the shack." Robin began. "I found an air vent in a corner." He turned to Kid Flash "All that dust was actually a gas being leaked into the shack. There was a time bomb underneath the vent; I think it had already been set to go off before we got there."

"How do you know it was Poison Ivy?" Aqualad asked.

"There was a plant beside the bomb, a rare one that she seems to like a lot." He rubbed his head and stood up. "But one thing confuses me; she wouldn't have blown up her plant, she would have used one to kill us, or whatever. I think someone else was there as well, aside from Cheshire, but any clues are now destroyed." He turned to the smouldering shack and, as if on cue, the ruminants collapsed in a heap.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now." Artemis stated.

Kid Flash stood up and shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears. "We should head back to the cave."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Aqualad asked both boys with genuine concern.

Robin and KF nodded. "I'm fine now." Robin insisted, "I just needed some fresh air."

The teens headed back to where Miss Martian had left the Bioship.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Two days later, the next school week began. Wally was sitting in his third lesson of the day, well OK, not _sitting_; he was slumped in his chair resting his head on his desk.

"Wally!" the teacher called "What is your answer to question three?"

Wally didn't lift his head off his desk, "Pi." He mumbled

The teacher stared at him and several kids laughed, "This is _English_ class, Wally."

"Oh." Wally mumbled into his desk, "Sir, can I go home? I don't feel too good."

Miss Smith stared at him in utmost shock, "I suppose so." She finally muttered.

Wally slowly and wearily packed up his things before sliding out of his chair and stumbling towards the door. He had just exited the classroom when everyone hears a crash as he dropped his books.

Most of the class snickered and one girl stood up and went to help, sending her peers a withering look. She froze at the door, "Miss Smith!" she cried, her voice rising in panic, "Miss Smith! Call the ambulance! He's fainted, and he's bleeding!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick and Barbra were walking to their next class when Dick suddenly stopped. His head began to pound and he winced.

"Dick? You OK?" Barbra asked, stopping too.

Dick nodded and continued walking. His headache slowly subsided, but his vision was clouded with green; like it is when you enter a dimly lit room after being in the sunlight. He blinked and ignored it, it went away. They exited the hallway and were on the balcony that led to the stairwell; their next class was on the floor below them. Barbra headed to the stairwell. The floor beneath Dick seemed to tip and he staggered, grabbing the balcony rail to steady himself.

Barbra rushed back to him, "Dick! Are you sure you're all right? Maybe you should go home?"

Dick shook his head and continued walking. "I'm fine." The words were hardly out of his mouth and the ground started tipping again and he staggered back and forth. The ground seemed to be rocking violently, like a rowboat in a storm, and he stumbled around violently; trying to regain his balance.

"Dick!" Barbra exclaimed, trying to grab him to steady him, but he staggered back.

The ground tipped again and again and Dick stumbled violently. He reeled towards the balcony edge, and he grabbed at the rail to steady himself . . . he missed and toppled over the rail.

Barbra screamed as Dick fell.


	8. Ch 8 ILL TIDINGS

**Author's Note: Hi! Hope youse are all feeling the suspense! Sorry, but this probably won't help cure you of cliff-hanger-syndrome! A special thanks to Goldenstripe2510, my editor. Just so you know, she freaked out when I sent her this to edit and left her hanging for about a week. Well, here's chappy 8, hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 8: ILL TIDINGS **

The ambulance arrived at Keystone High, sirens blaring, and Wally was put on a stretcher and loaded into the back. He was taken to Central City Hospital and his parents and his Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were waiting in the foyer. Wally was rushed into emergency, but an hour later was on a loaded into the back of a hospital plane, still unconscious, with his parents sitting beside his stretcher.

They were quickly flown to Star City's larger hospital facility.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Barbra screamed as Dick toppled over the balcony rail and fell. Without thinking, she dashed forward, slipped her torso between two of the poles and grabbed Dick's ankle.

Dick's books crashed to the floor of the level below and students who hadn't been alerted by Barbra's scream looked up. Several students screamed and Gotham Academy erupted in chaos. People streamed out of the halls and into the foyer, and the place was soon jammed packed.

"Somebody help me!" Barbra shrieked, as Dick's ankle started to slowly slip from her grip; she pushed herself further through the bars and grabbed him with her other hand as well.

An older boy appeared at her side and reached through the bars. He grabbed Dick's other leg and helped Barbra slowly pull Dick up. When he was close enough to reach he grabbed Dick's belt and hauled him up over the rail. Dick was laid on the floor gently and people crowded around closely. Teachers arrived and ordered the students to leave. In a matter of minutes the balcony was empty aside from the unconscious Dick, a few teachers, the older student who had helped and Barbra; crying and whispering over and over again "Dick! Dick, wake up! Come on Dick! Wake up!"

The ambulance arrived and Dick was laid on a stretcher and put in the back of the ambulance, Barbra refused to leave his side and went along to Gotham City Hospital. A very worried Bruce Wayne and his butler Alfred were waiting in the foyer and went with Dick into the emergency ward.

"He's going to be all right." Bruce said softly, placing a reassuring hand on Barbra's shoulder. But his face betrayed him, he was very worried.

A few tests were run, and after a few hours a doctor turned to Bruce Wayne worriedly; "We've never seen anything like it." He confessed, "We're going to have to fly him to Star City Hospital."

Less than an hour later, Bruce, Dick and several paramedics were in the back of an airplane, on their way to Star City Hospital.

They arrived at the hospital, and another doctor took a look at the records from the tests that had been run at Gotham City Hospital before running a few quick tests of his own. "I would say I've never seen anything like it." The doctor said in aside to Bruce, "But only a few hours ago we had another boy flown in from Central City with the same symptoms, I'll put Richard in the same room as him."

They arrived in a small ward and Dick was placed on a bed next to a fifteen-year-old boy who was none other than Wallace West. Barry looked over at Bruce and walked over, his face reflecting the same worry. "Not him too." He whispered.

Bruce looked over at Wally "I'll have to check up on the rest of the team this afternoon." He lowered his voice, "For the sake of our identities, we're going to have to keep quiet; even from them." Barry nodded slowly.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"The Dynamic Duo are off fighting crime in Gotham." Green Arrow announced to the team. "Kid Flash is with Flash in Central City, and as you already know; Martian Manhunter has taken Miss Martian and Superboy off to fight crime in Middletown. Aqualad . . ." he turned to the Atlantian, "Aquaman needs you in Atlantis." He turned to Artemis, "You can go home, or we can both go back to Star City together."

She picked up her bow and grinned. "I'll get suited up."


	9. Ch 9 CONFUSION

**Author's Note: Hey! Hope you're all feeling the SUSPENCE! ... i hope i spelt that right! Thank you for reading! And thanks SO much for your reveiws! Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 9: CONFUSION**

"C'mon! We've gotta hurry!" Miss Martian exclaimed, turning to Superboy, "If we don't get up there quickly . . . well, we've just gotta hurry!"

Superboy sighed, "Right." he looked up the huge office building, craning his neck to see the top. "So how do we get up?"

Miss Martian rolled her eyes, "We take the stairs, DUH!"

"Wouldn't that be a little, well . . . Slow?" Superboy objected

Miss Martian rolled her eyes again, "Well how else would we get to the top? Fly?" she scoffed, heading towards the doors to the building.

"Wait, I though you could fly?" Superboy objected, hurrying after her.

"Pfft! Ye-ah! But _you_ can't!" she shot back.

Superboy looked down at Wolf and shrugged before following after the Martian.

Inside, there was a row of shiny white chariots lined up against the wall in front of an elevator. "Hey, M'gann! There's an elevator, maybe we should . . ."

"Oh look! There's _chariots_!" Miss Martian exclaimed "We should take one of them and hitch it to Wolf! That would be much faster!"

Superboy opened his mouth to object, but Miss Martian had already flown to a chariot and hitched up Wolf. With another, exasperated sigh, Superboy hopped into the chariot and Wolf sped off up the stairs as fast as he could go.

They were about halfway up the stairs when . . . "Grr! Can't this thing go any faster!" Superboy stared at the cranky Miss Martian in shock. Wolf was starting to get dizzy, but the Kryptonian and the Martian weren't affected.

A few minutes later, and . . . "Oh! This is taking too long!" Miss Martian exclaimed and jumped out of the chariot. She morphed into a cheetah and sped up the stairwell. Wolf stopped short and Superboy jumped out of the chariot as well, unhitching him. "And she didn't want to fly why?" he asked himself, "So she wouldn't be rushing ahead of me! Yeesh!" he and Wolf ran up the stairs the rest of the way.

Miss Martian arrived at the top storey and found herself looking into a very large, very empty, white walled room. She looked around for a while, before stepping forward, and . . . falling through the floor. She fell and landed on the floor of a room identical to the one above, but the floor disappeared there as well and she fell again, and through the next floor, and the next, and the next, _and the next_. She landed softly on the dirt floor of the basement, wearing a long plain white dress, white shoes and a mask with her hair pulled back from her face and tied loosely in a pony-tail; her skin had turned Caucasian.

"You OK?" Superboy hollered down the tunnel Miss Martian had made through the floors of the building.

Miss Martian looked around, _yeah, _she replied telepathically, _I'm fine._ She saw a sign standing beside her, it read: SECRET MEETING = THIS WAY and had an arrow pointing to M'gann's left. She looked over and saw a doorway, beyond she could see a large congregation of people dressed just like her. _I found the secret society!_ She called up to Superboy excitedly, _And I have the perfect disguise! I'm going in._

Superboy sighed and turned to Wolf, "I suppose that means you and me take the long way down. He headed for the stairs, Wolf growled. "Good idea." Superboy agreed, "Let's take the elevator."

Miss Martian joined the stream of people heading into the meeting hall.

Robin crouched behind a column in the shadows of the balcony overlooking the conference hall. He peeked around and watched the crowd coming through the doors through a pair of binoculars. Little boxes appeared around the faces of every person, but each box turned red; _not recognised._ He frowned in frustration and wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead, swallowing to resist the urge to cough. I simple head cold wasn't going to put him off. He peeked through the binoculars again, suppressing his headache.

_C'mon, the leader's gotta show herself _some_ time!_ he exclaimed mentally, then one of the boxed flashed yellow; _recognised_. He zoomed in . . . _M'gann! What's she doing here?_

Miss Martian walked through the doors; mimicking the smooth, floaty way the other people walked. Robin frowned; _well, missions often take unexpected turns. _He reasoned, _Better hope Superboy sets off the alarm upstairs by himself and the distraction goes off; otherwise, this mission will get even more difficult. _

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Superboy and Wolf found the elevator and happily rushed over to it; Superboy went to press the button to call it up when Wolf began to growl. "What is it?" Superboy looked around, Wolf stared at the button and growled again. "What?" Superboy exclaimed, "It's just the button that'll bring the elevator up here!" He went to press it, and Wolf lunged forward and bit his arm. Superboy pulled his arm away from the button angrily, "Well, we can't take the elevator without pressing the button!" he shouted, "So it means we're stuck with the stairs!" Wolf growled, but led the way to the staircase. Superboy shrugged away his annoyance and followed.

The alarm trigger behind the button remained untouched.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin peered through his binoculars at the doorway, but the leader of the congregation never showed. The stream of people thinned and stopped. The huge hall Robin was looking down on was now filled with people wearing white. He noticed there were very few men, and those he could see wore long white robes and stalked around with very solemn looks on their faces.

His attention was drawn to an argument that had broken out between several women. He zoomed in and groaned; in the centre of the circle, with three women pointing accusing fingers at her, was M'gann. _That can't be good . . ._

"Well, well, well! What do we have here?" a cold, female voice sang out from behind him. He spun around and found two female guards standing behind him, tapping their feet impatiently. _Well, this can't be good either._

Before he could react another guard pounced on him from behind and in a matter of seconds he was well and truly caught. He was dragged to his feet and one of the guards shouted to get the attention of the congregation. Instantly everyone was quiet, and the argument M'gann was in was ended abruptly. Glad that she was no longer in hot water, Miss Martian looked up, and gasped when she saw Robin.

"There are spies among us!" the guard shouted, pointing to Robin; who coughed nonchalantly.

Miss Martian turned red, and made the mistake of trying to back away. She was quickly spotted, overpowered and seized.

"These two are spies!" The guard shouted, "They must be dealt with accordingly!" The crowd cheered in agreement. Robin coughed again, his head pounded;

_Maybe I have a _bit_ more than a cold . . ._he thought absently as he and M'gann were tied up tightly, blind-folded and led away.

They found themselves, half an hour later, on the back of a bus in a dark tunnel . . . at least, to them it appeared dark; because they were blind-folded.

Anyway, Robin's hands were tied behind his back, his feet were tied together and his arms had rope wrapped around them for good measure. He was seated on the bumper of the bus, and almost fell off when it lurched to a start.

Miss Martian was tied up just the same as Robin, only instead of sitting on the bumper like him; she was hanging down the side of the bus from a rope tied to the rack on top.

Robin sat somewhat calmly, focusing on balancing on the bumper as the bus picked up speed; soon it was zooming down the tunnel at top speed. Robin didn't even try to untie himself, and soon stopped trying to balance. Miss Martian used her telekinesis to stop him from falling off, as well as trying to stop herself from slamming against the walls of the tunnel. _ROBIN!_ She shouted telepathically, _Robin! Untie yourself!_

"Huh?"

_Use your utility belt, or your ninja skills and get yourself loose!_

"Which way's up?" Robin asked groggily,

_The way your head is facing! Now get yourself loose!_ Miss Martian was losing patience and energy fast.

Robin didn't seem to hear the second half of her reply, "Oh." He mumbled, ". . . Then which way's left?"

"Grrr! ROBIN!" M'gann yelled, "What's wrong with you? I can't hold you forever! Set yourself free so I can get myself loose!"

"Nothing's wrong with me!" Robin replied indignantly, "But what's eating you?"

"It's getting hot in here! That's what!" Miss Martian shouted above the roar of the bus, "And I'm running low on energy!"

"That's funny . . ." Robin wondered out loud, "Y'know, seeing as you're not running . . . come to think of it, you _never_ run, you only ever fly . . ."

"Robin! This isn't the time for jokes!"

". . . But, we're not _seeing_ either, coz we're blind-folded . . ."

"_Robin!_"

". . .Though I wonder whether we could see anything even if we weren't blindfolded. . ."

"**ROBIN**!"

The bus lurched and Robin almost fell off, M'gann grunted as she grabbed him mentally. "Robin! Untie yourself!"

"Huh?"

"The knot in the rope! Find it and untie it!"

"What rope?"

M'gann groaned and tried to feel for the knot with her telekinesis, she prodded Robin's side and he laughed and almost rolled off the bus, "Ha-ha! S-stop tickling me!"

"_Robin!_ PAY. ATTENTION!" Miss Martian hollered, "Use your fingers to . . . Ahh!" She slammed into the wall of the tunnel and lost her mental grip on Robin as she tried to righten herself. She slammed into the wall again and swung around the back of the bus, brushing past a completely disoriented Robin with a squeal.

"I got you!" Artemis caught M'gann and pulled her up onto the top of the bus; quickly helping the Martian get out of her ropes. The bus lurched again and the girls jumped off, landing softly and rolling on the dirt floor of the tunnel. Robin toppled off the back of the bus, right into Kid Flash who had zoomed in to help Artemis. Wally zipped back to the girls with Robin and put his friend down.

"See." Robin said indignantly, "There was nothing to worry about." He said, just then the tunnel was flooded with sunlight as the bus shot out of the end of it and plummeted over the cliff.

"Yeah, totally." Kid Flash agreed sarcastically, "By the way, you're welcome. I mean, it's not like I just saved you from falling to your death or anything."

"You're right, it's not like that at all." Robin agreed wholeheartedly.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

A woman wearing a long white dress reclined on a red couch and clicked her long nails nonchalantly, her long brown hair curled around her pale face and her venom green eyes flicked over to the female guard standing at the doorway to her large lounge room. "What do you mean they escaped?" she asked coldly, and clicked her nails.

The guard stared down at her feet, "Well . . . they, uh, escaped."

"From you?" the woman's sarcastic shock was laced with ice.

"N-no." the guard stuttered, "We dealt with them, but they managed to escape the tunnel. I believe they had help."

"Help?"

"Security reported _four_ spies leaving the tunnel, Ma'am."

"Well now, we can't have that." The woman continued clicking her nails.

"Do you want us to track them down?" the guard finally looked up from the floor.

"Oh, no! Of course not!" the woman said calmly, "My dragon is already on the job."

The guard gave her mistress a bewildered look, "Your _dragon_, Ma'am?"

"Yesss!" the woman hissed, "My dragon." She clicked her nails, "My dragon as an amazing creature. He does special deeds for me, without being told. In fact, when he does all the deeds I never mention, or express that I want them done; he grows stronger. And he is close to reaching his 104th deed, at which point he will grow!" she looked up triumphantly, "He will become invincible! _I_ will become invincible!" she sobered and lowered her voice, "But if he has help, or fails to complete a deed, he could possibly die. If he survives, he had to begin all over again." Her eyes seemed to glow evilly under her arched eyebrows, "And we can't let that happen, can we?"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Superboy, Aquaman, Aqualad, Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Arrow and Red Arrow met Artemis, Kid Flash, and Miss Martian in a car park that was bordered on one side with the forest. Batman, with Robin leaning heavily against him, was near the centre of the group. The heroes had just begun discussing the missions they had just returned from when the huge grey dragon appeared. It hovered over them for a whole minute, before gliding over and landing beside the group of heroes.

The heroes stared in shock, and even Superboy's face showed some hint of fear. The dragon looked over at them and roared loudly. Miss Martian squealed and the heroes trembled.

"Shut up." Robin grumbled groggily, "You're giving me a headache." Kid Flash and Batman stared at him in shock. Robin pushed away from Batman, "Go away, you big oaf." He grumbled to the giant dragon. The large creature took a menacing step forward, and picked the teen hero up in one giant fist. The dragon sniffed Robin, sneezed and put him back down again. Robin stared up at it defiantly before losing his balance and toppling over. Batman caught him and Robin leaned on his mentor's shoulder heavily. The rest of the heroes were all in battle positions, having recovered from their shock. Superboy was ready to attack.

From seemingly nowhere, Robin suddenly had a sword. The dragon glared down at the heroes, drooling slightly, with malice in its eyes. Robin did nothing with the sword, much to Kid Flash and Superboy's horror, until he noticed a certain teddy-bear lying on the ground at his feet; at which point Robin speared the Teddy on the sword and held it up to the dragon.

"Want the Teddy?" he asked calmly.

The dragon bent over slowly and carefully picked the Teddy off the sword with its teeth, before gently tossing it into the air, spinning around quickly and . . . swatting it hard with its tail, sending it flying into a tree and falling apart. The dragon whirled around and glared down at the heroes growling and drooling. It leaned in menacingly, but something it its peripheral vision caught its eye and it turns quickly to see a red rubber ball on the ground. The dragon's yellow eyes lit up happily and it gently picked up the toy and flew away happily.

The woman, still reclining on her couch, had been watching the whole encounter though a crystal ball. Her face twisted with fury as her dragon flew away with the ball, leaving the heroes alive and unharmed, and the objective incomplete. "No!" the woman stormed, "No, no, no, no, _no!_"

The dragon suddenly stiffened and plummeted to the ground, making a small crater. "NO!" the woman shrieked, as the dragon shrunk, shrivelled up and disintegrated,

"**NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin sat up with a gasp. He was panting heavily and soaked with cold sweat. He caught his breath and glanced around. _Where am I? _He was in a white-walled room, with a pale blue linoleum floor; he was lying in a cot, and an identical -but empty- cot was on the other side of the room. He was attached to a drip and a heart monitor.

Sitting on a plastic chair beside the cot, his face streaked with worry despite the fact that he was asleep, was Bruce Wayne. Robin looked over at his guardian and mentor worriedly, "Bruce?" he whispered weakly.

Instantly Bruce was awake and out of his seat. "Dick!" he exclaimed, and hugged his shocked ward "Oh, Dick! We were so worried!" he ruffled Dick's raven hair, "Don't ever scare us like that again!" he ordered.

Just then Wally appeared at the doorway to the hospital room, his pale face lit up when he saw Robin and he zipped over. "Dude! You're all right!"

Robin looked around again in confusion, "Yeah, what happened? Where am I?"

"Try to remember." Bruce said in a low voice.

Robin frowned in concentration. His memories slowly returned, "I remember we were in the woods . . ." he looked over at Wally who nodded enthusiastically ". . . And we found a shack, and there was some gas in there . . ."

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed, "That gas totally poisoned us! We . . ."

Bruce held up his hand, "Let him think." He ordered.

Dick frowned again, "Uhh, I was at school; and everything was swaying . . . and I remember falling, and Barbra screaming, then . . ." he paused, remembering the queer dream he had had.

"Then. . ?" Bruce and Wally prodded in unison.

"Then . . . nothing . . . I woke up here." Robin decided to keep his dream to himself. "What happened?" he asked again.

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed, before Bruce could reply "You've been in a coma for, like, four days! I was too; I only woke up a few hours ago . . ." He pulled over another plastic chair and sat down wearily, "I'm still feeling a little drowsy, but the doctor said I'll be fine, you too; whatever that gas was, it's completely out of our systems now."

Dick nodded and lay back down. Only then did he notice the teddy bear lying on the pillow beside him. He sat up again, "Where's my ball?"

"Huh?" Wally looked over, "Oh that ball. Well . . . when we were out to the world, Uncle Barry got a little stressed out and he borrowed it and went outside to burn off a little steam."

Dick quirked an eyebrow, "And . . ?"

"And he popped it." Bruce finished, "He went to buy you a new one."

Dick shook his head in disbelief and lay back down. "Bruce?"

"Yes?"

Dick changed his mind, "Never mind." He would reveal the teddy-bear moving culprit himself.


	10. Ch 10 ALIBI

**Author's Note: Hi! I'm so glad you're enjoying my story! Sorry, but I can't tell you who the culprit is, or anything for that matter. . .**

**I hope you find this funny; my sister did, and not because of the numerous spelling mistakes, stupid grammatical errors and senseless sentences she found while reading over my shoulder. **

**A special thanks to Goldenstripe2510, my **_**official**_** editor. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 10: ALIBI**

Robin walked into the training room of the cave and was greeted by the rest of the team. Miss Martian flew over excitedly; Artemis, Kaldur and Superboy dashed over on foot and greeted him happily.

"So," Artemis said casually "How was your time with Batman? We've all just finished sharing our adventures with our own mentors; how about you tell us how the Dynamic Duo fared in Gotham City?" Robin was about to protest but she grabbed his shoulder and steered him towards the couch in the next room. "C'mon, you've been on a top-secret mission for five days, _FIVE DAYS!_ Don't you dare tell us that there's nothing to talk about!"

Robin sighed and sat on the couch, "You just told me yourself that the mission was _top-secret_. If Batman didn't give you the lowdown, I doubt he'd want me to."

Artemis quirked an eyebrow and sat on the couch next to him, "Batman didn't give us the lowdown because he's been off in Gotham fighting crime the whole time; with _you_." She scoffed "You're the first we've seen of either of you since, uh . . ." she stopped to think for a moment "Since, well, you _know_ . . . since we saw you last!"

It was Robin's turn to quirk an eyebrow . . . only Artemis hardly saw it, because of Robin's mask. "Who said we were in Gotham?"

Artemis frowned in confusion, "Green Arrow did."

"Right, well, truth be told; we _were_ in Gotham, on the night when Green Arrow told you that . . . but in the next few days we were in Bialya." Kaldur and Superboy walked over, wanting to hear the recount of his mission, Miss Martian sat herself on the rug in front of the couch and looked up at Robin eagerly. Robin grinned at the eager 'can't-wait-to-hear-this' expressions all round. He wasn't really in Bialya, but Batman had come up with the story as an alibi, and background for the next mission. "Well," Robin began "We were in Bialya and . . . Wait! Where's Wally?"

As if on cue, the teleporters announced the arrival of Kid Flash; who zipped over excitedly.

Artemis, realising she wasn't going to get much of a story out of Robin, decided to turn her attention to the speedster: "Hey! Wally! What did you do with Flash these last few days?"

Miss Martian, Superboy, Aqualad and even Robin all turned their eager eyes upon Wally."

Overjoyed at being in the centre of attention again, Wally settled himself on the couch across from Robin and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "Wa-aall. . ." he began.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"We were in Central City when _they_ attacked!" He spoke the word 'they' with dramatic emphasis and waited for someone to ask who it was.

He didn't have to wait more than two milliseconds before Miss Martian burst out "WHO?"

"Hoards and hoards of _hornets_!" Wally cried, Robin quirked an eyebrow; Wally ignored him "They were _giant_! As big as golf balls! But Flash and me fought them off an' ran away! _ZOOM_! We made it to the park, where some alert had gone off, and found a whole heap of people fighting over a tractor! We beat them all up an' ran away! _ZOOM_!

"Then there was this alert at a bank! And we zipped over there and found a bunch of peeps all lying on the floor, with their hands over their heads and ten really _big_ guys with masks on pointing guns around and stealing all the money! We beat them all up, returned all the money, reassured all the peeps, carted the baddies off to the Police Station an' ran away!_ ZOOM_!

"Then we went to Gotham – it was still the first day mind you – and we fought side-by-side with Batman and Robin against Joker and Freeze and Poison Ivy and Riddler an', and someone else . . . looked sorta like Red Arrow . . ." His voice trailed off thoughtfully and the team glanced at Robin, whose bewildered look mirrored their own.

"Anyhoo!" Wally exclaimed, sitting upright and continuing with his tale, "We zoomed over to Middletown and saved Martian Manhunter from a fire!" at a disagreeing gasp from Miss Martian he turned to her and announce: "You weren't there! Then we ran away!_ ZOOM_!

"We went to Metropolis, an' helped Superman fight some baddies who were robbin' a bank. One dude escaped and drove away in his car, but_ ZOOM_! I was there, and I went to stop him, but the car blew up. _BOOM_! The baddie died by the way, so sad. Anyhoo! Me an' Flash said 'bye!' to Superman; well, I said 'bye!' Flash said 'Seeya!' Anyhoo!" Wally interrupted himself again and went back to his story "We said 'bye!' an' 'seeya!' an' ran away!_ ZOOM_!

"Then we went to Star City and helped Green Arrow defeat a bunch of baddies . . . who were doing somethin' but I don' remember what . . . mind you this was still on the third day, I think. We saved Green Arrow; well I did . . . four times actually. An' then me an' Flash ran away!_ ZOOM_!

"Then we were gonna go to Atlantis! But 'cause it's underwater Flash didn't want to go, but when he found out that Black Manta was holding Queen Mera hostage so we _had_ to go! We found aqua-breathers and teleported to Poisedonis! _ZAP!_ 'Recognised: Kid Flash B03' " he mimicked the automated computer voice " 'Recognised: Flash 04' And _ZING!_ We were there! We zoomed over to help Aquaman and Aqualad! _ZOOM!_ . . . but we were underwater, so it was more like a _SHKPLOOSH!_

"Can you quit with the sound effects?" Artemis exploded

Wally ignored her and proceeded "We saved the day and Black Manta ran away! _ZO _– hey! That rhymed! – an' then me an' Flash ran away! _SHKPLOOSH!_ And teleported back to Earth! 'Recognised: Kid Flash, B03' " At this he mimicked the computer's voice again, and Artemis groaned loudly. The rest of the team still stared at the speedster in open-mouthed befuddlement. Wally ignored them and returned to telling his tale: "Then we ran away! _ZOOM_! We found you, Miss Martian, and you, Artemis. You didn't see us; but we saw you! You were having trouble stopping those peeps from robbing that huge three-storey bank! Me an' Flash made the tornado that slowed them down while you beat them all up! Youse were very grateful, even though you didn't know it was us! Then we ran away! _ZOOM_!

"Then we found Superboy fighting a bunch o' baddies who were fighting over a tank which they wanted to use to cart away the money in the bank next door! But me an' Flash helped you, Supey, remember? We zipped 'round an' 'round 'em an' round 'em all up! Heh! You–" Superboy went to object but Wally cut him off "Hey! Don't interrupt! I'm telling the story! You knocked 'em all out! _CRASH! BANG! POW! _An' then you piled 'em all into the tank and drove away! How'd you learn to drive a tank anyway? You hadn't gone far when _ZWSHHOOOOOOOOO! _A meteor came from nowhere an' _SCHPEWWW! BOOM! WHAAHHHHHH! _The tank exploded! Congratulations on surviving unharmed by the way! But me an' Flash didn't stop! No we– . . ."

"You ran away! _ZOOM_! Yes we know!" Artemis exploded.

Wally blinked, "No, actually we figured Supey'd be OK an' someone else had decided to rob the bank across the road so we stopped them instead of the baddies with the tank. So me an' Flash beat 'em up, an' sent 'em off to the Police! 'Bye!'

"There were a lot of bank robberies in the last week! But me an' Flash stopped 'em all! Well, most of them anyways. An' then we went back to Central City, and one from The Light was there! We fought him . . ." The team all sat up, interested and listening attentively. ". . . but he got away." Wally finished just as excitedly.

"Did you see who he was?" Robin asked

Wally shook his head "Nah! His face was in the shadows. Ha! Ironic huh? Y'know! 'Cause he's part of the _Light_, and he was in_ Shadows_ . . . Ha!" The disbelieving looks had returned to his comrades faces. "Anyhoo! We forgot about him an' ran away! _ZOOM_!

"An' then we found the Batcave! We were going to pop in and say 'Heyo!' when this missile came from nowhere! _WHEEEEEE!_ And exploded on the place! _SCHPEWWW! BOOM! WHAAHHHHHH!_" He threw his arms up and Miss Martian squealed and covered her head. "Well, we figured it was no use trying to save you so we ran away! _ZOOM_! Flash tripped over a rock, and I laughed, but that doesn't matter! Flash and Kid Flash had saved the day! . . . Week!" he jumped up, throwing his arms into the air again, before beginning bowing dramatically. "Thank you! Thank you! Yah! Yaaah! Thank you!"

The team, minis Miss Martian who was still covering her head, all stared with open-mouths and utter disbelief. "I'm pretty sure that's a _slight_ exaggeration . . ." Aqualad began, but was cut off when Superboy and Artemis cried in unison: "_NONE_ of that happened!"

Robin choked back a laugh at the shock on Wally's face. "_Nothing_ like that happened!" He agreed.

"Oh." Wally sat in silent thought for a moment "Oh well, must've been a dream. Me an' Flash were on a stakeout all week. Don't remember anything exciting happening, though." He got up and calmly walked away.

The team stared after him.

_Hmm._ Robin thought absently, _ he had a dream too._


	11. Ch 11 SWITCH

**Author's Note: I just want to give a special thank you to Takua Nui, mixxi, D. .J, greekfreak101 and Goldenstripe2510 for your ongoing support! It means a lot to me, thank you!**

**I hope you really enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 11: SWITCH **

The team stared after Wally, mouths open. Miss Martian slowly removed her arms from her head, looked around and sighed when she saw that all her friends were OK and intact. Robin, looking thoughtful, wandered off after Wally. Superboy and Aqualad exchanged confused and slightly worried glances, before following after the speedster as well. Miss Martian quickly flew after them.

Artemis stared before collapsing on the couch with a groan. _How is he _not_ exhausted?_ She exclaimed mentally _I'm drained just from listening to him, but he dreamed up the whole thing and told it to us! And he's fine! HOW!_ She let out an exasperated sigh and closed her eyes for a minute.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis's eyes snapped open when Aqualad placed a hand on her arm. "Black Canary's here; it's time for training." As Artemis hastily got up Aqualad looked at her sympathetically, "I don't blame you for wanting a rest. Robin's story was exhausting. He's still at it!"

Artemis stopped short, "What? _Robin's_ story? It was Wa-" she heard a familiar 13-year-old voice shouting from the training room next door; "_CRASH! BANG! POW! _An' then me an' Batman stopped the robbery an' . . ." Black Canary was staring at him with a worried look on her face. When she saw Artemis her face flushed with relief and, grateful for an excuse, placed a hand on Robin's shoulder "Training now, tell me later." Robin, looking dejected, obediently shut his mouth.

Kid Flash zipped over right then and stood _patiently_ as Superboy walked in, followed closely by Miss Martian who was carrying a tray of freshly baked cookies. To Artemis's shock, it was _Robin_ who appeared at Miss Martian's side, snatching a handful of cookies and greeting the Martian with a "Hello beautiful."

Kid Flash rolled his eyes and sighed, Miss Martian ignored the Boy Wonder.

"Miss Martian, put the cookies down." Black Canary ordered "It's training time, Artemis against Robin, show me what you know."

"Aw, man!" Robin complained, but meekly walked to the centre of the training floor. He jumped at Artemis, but to her surprise she beat him easily. She smiled, proud of herself, as Black Canary ordered Kid Flash to spar against her. _Robin fought like Wally!_ Artemis thought, _I beat him, Wally should be easy!_ Wally beat her soundly and laughed at her shocked face. _Ouch! That move gets me every time! . . . But it's always __Robin__ who gets me with it . . . hmm . . ._ She accepted Kid Flash's hand and found Robin shovelling cookies into his mouth.

"You're a great cook, Green-Cheeks!"

Kid Flash looked at Robin scornfully, turned to Artemis and made the cuckoo sign by spinning a finger beside his ear and rolling his eyes. Artemis turned to Aqualad as Kid Flash zipped away, coming back a few seconds later with a rubber ball; which he ditched at Robin's face, causing the Boy Wonder to spit out half his mouthful of cookies and choke on the other half. "Kaldur, what's wrong with those two?"

Aqualad gave Artemis a queer look, "How do you know my name?" when Artemis's mouth fell open he shrugged, "Doesn't matter, I was going to tell you guys anyway."

Miss Martian, hearing him, looked up "So was I!" she called, "My name's M'gann M'orzz! But my Earth name is Megen Morse! Superboy picked the name Connor Kent a while ago!"

Robin leaned over and stole another cookie, "My name's Joe, you can call me Joe." he shoved the cookie into his mouth, crumbs tumbled out as he announced "Kid Secret over here forbidden to tell us his secret ID."

Kid Flash frowned "Flash's orders." he defended himself.

Robin shrugged and grabbed the last three cookies. He'd just shoved them into his mouth when he cried "Hey! Where's Black Canary? She didn't hear the rest of my story!"

Kid Flash ditched the ball at him again, "She's long gone, dude!" He grabbed the ball and ditched it at Robin's face again. Robin grabbed the ball and ditched it back at Kid Flash, who laughed. Robin jumped at him and the speedster dashed away; Boy Wonder hot on his heels. Miss Martian rolled her eyes.

A few minutes later a familiar cackle echoed through cave. To Artemis's shock it was _Kid Flash_ who appeared. He zipped over and stood beside Artemis, cackled again when Robin appeared and shot off again. Robin groaned and collapsed on the couch. Miss Martian walked over and he gave her a cheesy grin. "Hey Sweet-Cheeks! Got anymore cookies?"

"No, but I made a cake yesterday . . ."

Robin moved almost as fast as Kid Flash and disappeared into the kitchen.

Miss Martian shook her head "I don't know where he puts it all!" Kid Flash walked in then and Miss Martian turned to him, "Seriously! I would expect you to eat more! All that running must make you hungry!"

"Yeah!" Artemis ventured, "I'd think you'd have a fast metabolism."

"A fast _what_?" Robin asked, walking back into the room with half a layer cake in his hands.

"Metabolism." Kid Flash answered him, "Don't you pay any attention in class? It's how fast your body turns food into energy."

Robin shrugged and devoured his cake in no time flat, before going back for more. "Thanks beautiful!" he called back to Miss Martian, "You make my day!"

The Martian rolled her eyes, "If he knew how to cook, he wouldn't have a problem." she whispered to Superboy.

Artemis walked over to Kid Flash, "Quit the charade, Baywatch!" she hissed "Your ID isn't a secret! Your name's Wally."

Kid Flash stared at her with a mixture of shock, amusement and anger, "Why'd you call _me_ Baywatch?" he laughed "You've called _Robin_ that since he showed up dressed like a clown ready for a day at the beach!"

Artemis's mouth fell open, "Wally-"

He pulled her aside, "You may know my secret ID," he whispered "I don't know how you found out, but please don't tell the others; Flash'll kill me!"

Artemis yanked her arm away, "I don't know what game you're playing, Wally," her voice rose "But you'd better stop right now, or . . ." she didn't get any further before the speedster slapped his hand over her mouth. "What did I just tell you?" he whispered, "Don't go shouting out my secret! How'd you like it if I told the whole team yours! I know about your family, so if you go telling the whole team my name, I'll tell them all about your family!" he removed his gloved hand from her face, "Our IDs are called 'secret' for reason, there's a reason why Flash doesn't want you to know my name." he walked away.

Robin appeared at Artemis's side "Heya! I told youse my name, why don't you tell me yours?" the pitch in his voice was higher than usual, with a childish whine that made Artemis want to hit something. "Soooooo? Aren't you going to tell me?" Just the sound made Artemis's fists clench and her heart beat angrily. "Weeeeeeell?" Robin persisted.

"Hi, my name's Artemis." Artemis growled through clenched teeth, "You can call me Artemis."

"Can I call you Arty?" There was a mocking tinge to his voice now, "Or how about Missy?" Artemis stormed away, trying as hard as she could to suppress her rising anger and annoyance, holding back her fists with all her will power. "Oh I know!" Robin cried "Artymissy!"

A hand touched Artemis's arm and she swung her arm around with a growl. Her eyes snapped open and she was lying on the couch again, well, not _lying_. She had sat up and swiped at Robin; who had dodged and now stood a few steps away staring at her, wide-eyes behind his mask. "Whoa! Calm down!" Robin exclaimed "_Kaldur _told me to wake you up! There's no need to try and take off my head! If you're angry, blame Aqualad!"

Artemis stared around in confusion, "What am I doing back on the couch?" She mumbled and got up slowly, she turned to Robin, "Sorry, I was having a dream. And you were bugging me."

Robin choked "Me?" he suppressed a laugh, "You got it backwards, it was Wally who was poking you, and pinching you and . . ." a laugh bubbled up out of his throat "S-sorry, s-so sorry!" He gasped when she glared at him "B-but you m-might want to wash that off! Y-you got a l-little something on y-your, your f-face." he made a point of rubbing his nose.

Artemis stood up and Robin forced himself to stop laughing. "By the way, we gotta go to . . ."

"Training?" Artemis guessed.

Robin quirked an eyebrow, "No, mission briefing; Batman's waiting."

"A mission?" Artemis excitedly rushed into the mission-briefing room, she skidded to a stop before she exited the room, "Oh, and Robin?"

He appeared beside her, "Yeah?"

"Your name's not _Joe_ is it?"

Robin quirked and eyebrow and chuckled, "Nup, nothing like it."

A look of slight confusion crossed Artemis's face, but she dashed off towards the mission briefing room anyway.

Batman turned from the others, but froze and glared icily when he saw Artemis, "Is this some kind of joke?" he growled.

Artemis froze, "What?"

Kid Flash burst out laughing but quickly covered his face. Batman glared at Robin and Artemis, "Explain." he ordered.

"Explain what?" Artemis exclaimed.

"It was Wally!" Robin laughed.

"What was Wally?" Artemis whirled on Wally, who promptly collapsed with laughter. Arty turned on Superboy and Miss Martian. M'gann covered her mouth and giggled. A smile tugged at the corners of Superboy's mouth. Kaldur chuckled. "What is going on!" Artemis exploded, this made Wally, Robin and Miss Martian laugh even harder. Aqualad chuckled again and Superboy grinned.

Batman remained cold and solemn, glaring icily at the teens.

"What's so funny!" Artemis shouted and Miss Martian took her hand and led her into the bathroom. Artemis was turned to face the mirror and her face turned red with embarrassment. A bold, thick, black marker had been used to give her the curly French moustache drawn under her nose and the scribbled goatee on her chin. Her face turned even redder with anger. "I'm going to _kill_ Wally!" She grabbed the soap, turned on the tap and began vigorously scrubbing her face.


	12. Ch 12 OMNITRIX

**Author's Note: Hi peeps! There's good news, and bad news: The good news is I have another chappy here for youse! The bad news is that I'm going to be away for almost a week and won't be able to post until Wednesday at the earliest. Sorry!**

**Still, here's the good news; hope you enjoy it! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice . . . or Ben Ten.**

**Chapter 12: OMNITRIX**

The Bioship, in camouflage mode, zoomed across the vast expanses of desert; high enough not to be noticed, but low enough for the passengers to see what they were looking for.

"I know it should be here somewhere!" Robin exclaimed, "Batman was positive if we couldn't find it from on ground, we should be able to see it from the air!"

"Y'know . . ." Kid Flash began, his voice muffled as he spoke into the window his face was pressed up against "It would be much easier to look if we knew what we were looking _for_!"

The whole team glared at him, "We _do_ know what we're looking for!" Artemis growled, "Batman must've told us twelve times before explaining how to find it!" she turned to Robin, "What was it again?"

Robin rolled his eyes, Superboy sat forward; "I know what it looks like!" the clone began "Batman said it was a long red tube about a foot long and four inches wide. It . . ."

"It wasn't a _tube_!" Artemis scoffed, "It was a _capsule_!"

"Like a giant tablet!" Kid Flash exclaimed

Superboy ignored them, "I can't remember what it was called . . . something like '_Cappy-fix_' or 'Omnitrix' or 'I-caught-fish' . . ."

Robin and Kid Flash burst into gales of laughter. Artemis did as well; despite the fact she was still furious. "_Omnitrix_?" Artemis exclaimed, "I think you've been watching too much TV!"

"_Cappy_-fix?" Kid Flash howled, "Is that the name of the type of fish-you-caught?"

Robin whacked him on the back of the head, "That's a _guppy_! Not a _cappy_!" Kid Flash rubbed the back of his head. "It's called a Gemorphomotrix." Robin explained to Superboy, "And we need to find it before Queen Bee. She would destroy it to get its power, so the Justice League has been putting their focus on trying to track it down. Batman got a hit on Bialya, so that's why we're here.

"Wasn't there another reason?" Supeboy questioned, "Aren't we going to be staying here for a while?"

"Just the weekend." Kid Flash announced, swivelling his seat around to face the clone; "There was some unauthorised activity that we have to spy on. That was the original mission; finding the G-whatever-trix was just an extra." He poked his tongue out at Robin "See, I _was_ paying attention."

Robin's ball smacked into Kid Flash's face, Kid Flash yelped and began rubbing his tongue and teeth.

"Robin!" Miss Martian tried to sound stern, "Not while I'm flying!"

"Thad feelth funny," Kid Flash mumbled, still rubbing his mouth.

Artemis struggled to hold back a laugh. The black-marker-moustache wrinkled a little as a smile tugged at her lips. Her chin crinkled with her efforts and her marker-goatee quivered with the pent up laughter. She finally allowed the laugh to come out as a scornful chuckle that earned her an angry look from the speedster.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The team set up their camp on a flat, hard sand area surrounded by large rocks that offered a little shelter. The sun was setting, sending vivid banners of red, purple and gold streaming across the sky. Superboy set up the tent, and Artemis and Robin organised the rations; pre prepared sandwiches. Everyone received one each; except for Kid Flash, who had six.

They took turns keeping watch, Kid Flash helped Robin set up a signal jammer, "This will intercept any radio transmissions in the area." Robin explained to KF, "It may help us locate where the Gemorphomotrix is, but it's mostly to help spy on Queen Bee; her activities have been taking place over radio and shipped in and out in an unknown way."

"Duh, I know!" Kid Flash scoffed indignantly, "I _was_ paying attention, you know!"

Robin smirked to himself, _Sure_, he thought; _You're _always_ paying attention!_ he looked at the signal jammer thoughtfully and his mind wandered to the signal jammer or similar device used to scramble the spy-bug in his room. _I know there's something I'm missing!_ he thought frowning, _I know there's a big clue right in front of me. . ._ he looked up and saw Kid Flash fiddling with the signal jammer. He frowned suspiciously. Kid Flash noticed his look and sat back, putting his hands up in defence "I was just looking!" he exclaimed "I wasn't doing anything! I swear!"

_Nup, that can't be it._ Robin went back to his thoughts.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The night passed uneventfully, and the teens were making more sandwiches for breakfast when the jammer beeped and started playing aloud a radioed conversation. A silence fell over the teens and they listened intently to the conversation. It wasn't Queen Bee, but two Bialyan soldiers. Superboy listened intently and Robin tried to decipher it with his holographic computer. When the message came across, they quickly packed up their camp, boarded the Bioship and flew away.

As they left, they saw the speaking soldiers slowly closing in on the place they had camped. "That was a close one!" Miss Martian exclaimed, "I can't believe they found us and snuck up on us like that!"

"It's a good thing you know the Bialyan language!" Artemis exclaimed to Superboy, "Otherwise we'd have been stuffed waiting for Robin's thingy-ma-gitdgit to translate!"

Superboy looked uncomfortable, "Actually, it _was_ Robin's thingy-ma-gidgit that translated, I heard them sneaking up on us, and Robin's thingy-ma-gidgit confirmed it."

"So who wants s sandwich?" Kid Flash exclaimed, spinning around in his seat to offer sandwich to everyone. He jumped out of his seat and zipped around handing out the rations. "One for you, one for you, one for you! One, no, none for you cos you're flying and four for me!"

Miss Martian looked upset and Artemis snatched another sandwich off Kid Flash and handed it to Miss Martian, who promptly set the Bioship on Autopilot. Artemis glared angrily at Kid Flash, who laughed at how funny she looked with a French moustache and goatee on an angry face. Artemis knew right away that was what he was laughing at and turned red furiously, "I'll get you back, Baywatch!"

Miss Martian looked shocked, "It's OK Artemis," she said "It was just a joke! But you got me a sandwich, and Kid Flash is forgiven for leaving me out like that."

Artemis sat down angrily, "That was _not_ what I was talking about!

Kid Flash looked uneasy, Miss Martian looked confused. Robin smirked, leaned over and elbowed Kid Flash, "Bust-ed! Dun, dun, dunnnnnn!"

"Dude!" Kid Flash whirled on Robin threateningly. Robin ignored him, laughing silently to himself.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

They set up a new camp and prepared for lunch. Superboy and Robin built a fire and sat down as near as they dared, toasting their bread over the heat.

Artemis and Miss Martian set up the tent and sat inside, content with eating sandwiches.

Kid Flash walked around with a piece of bread, sweating in the heat of the midday sun. "I don't know how you guys can be near a _fire_!" he exclaimed to Robin and Superboy suddenly, "It's like a _zillion_ degrees out here!"

Artemis, more grumpy then ever in the heat, grumbled "And you're supposed to be the science guy."

"What's that supposed to mean? Seriously!" he sat down heavily on a rock, and jumped up straight away with a yelp "Ahh! That's _hot_! It's so hot out here that . . . that I could roast my bread out in the sun!" he looked thoughtful for a moment, before carefully placing his bread on the rock. "Voila!" he exclaimed "Genius!"

"You know, you actually have to accomplish something before you can claim to be a genius." Artemis grumbled.

Kid Flash glared at her. "I'm going to see if there's anything to eat in the desert!" he zoomed away.

Robin looked over at the bread on the rock. "Mr Science Guy, huh?" he laughed. After a while, he asked Miss Martian; "Hey, M'gann, could you give me a hand with my bread?"

"No way!" Miss Martian exclaimed, "You couldn't pay me a _zillion dollars_ to go near that fire!"

Robin sighed and tapped his head, "You don't have to move! I meant could you float my bread over the fire for me, it's getting really hot here." he looked back at his bread, "Oh well, it's done anyway." he pulled his toast off the fire and began to eat it.

Superboy's bread burst into flames. "Uh . . . what do I do now?"

A sly grin spread across Robin's face and he whispered his idea to Superboy, who grinned as well, walked over to Kid Flash's rock and swapped his burning toast with Wally's bread. He went back to the fire and started cooking Kid Flash's bread.

"Ha!" Artemis exclaimed, "I can't wait to see his face!"

Robin looked at _her_ face and had to stifle a burst of laughter and turned around quickly so she couldn't see the laughter hidden behind _his_ face.

Kid Flash zoomed back, empty handed but excited, "Guess what . . . Ahhh!" he rushed over to his bread and puffed out the flames. The team erupted in laughter, ". . . See!" Kid Flash cried indignantly, "I _told_ you it was hot!"

More laughter.

"Oh well, anyway I have great news!" they all looked at him "I found the Omnitrix!"

Everyone laughed again.

"What's so funny?"

Robin cackled, "You said you were paying attention!" he rolled his eyes behind his mask, "It's the _Gemorphomotrix_, for the last time!"

Kid Flash threw up his arms in exasperation, "WHO CARES!" he exclaimed, "I _FOUND_ IT!"

As if they suddenly realised what he'd said, the whole team jumped up in excitement, "WHAT? WHERE?" they all exclaimed, crowding around him closely.

Kid Flash's eyes widened as they pressed in all around him. "Yikes!" he zipped around behind them and stood a little way away, "Seriously! You guys are worse than the paparazzi!"

They all crowded around him again and Artemis grabbed his hair. "Tell us where it is!" she exclaimed.

"FINE!" Wally pulled free, "Pack up the camp, it's pretty far away."

They packed up the camp and boarded the Bioship, and with Miss Martian carefully following Kid Flash's directions, they flew over the desert. However, after half an hour Artemis shot an angry look at Kid Flash. "Are you sure you know where you're going? There isn't a sign of _anything_ out here!"

"Hey!" Kid Flash defended himself; "I can run really far in five minutes!" he looked back out the window and suddenly pointed down "There! Land over there!"

Miss Martian looked down at the blank landscape and landed the Bioship.

"There's nothing here." Artemis growled.

Kid Flash poked his tongue out at her, "You're not looking! I found it! I know where it is! Why don't _you_ try to find it?" He crossed his arms and leaned against a random boulder. The team began scrambling around trying to find the large red cylinder. After ten minutes they all looked at Kid Flash pleadingly.

"Wally, tell us where it is! This is just a waste of time!" Artemis exclaimed.

"No, hold on." Superboy said suddenly, "I can hear a faint hum! Could that be the Omnitrix?"

Robin face palmed. But looked down at the holographic computer on his glove; "Hey! I'm picking up a signal! He turned around 360 degrees and stopped facing Kid Flash. "You little cheat! You're hiding it!"

Kid Flash put his hands up and zipped away; revealing nothing. The computer still showed that the Gemorphomotrix was straight in front of Robin. The little ninja stared at the rock confusedly. "It's gotta be here!" he knelt down and examined the base of the boulder. After a while he stood up and whirled on a smirking Kid Flash "Okay Wally, Spill!"

Kid Flash laughed and zipped around to the other side of the rock. He knelt down and pointed to a fist sized hole hidden at the base of the boulder. Robin knelt down beside him and peered closely at the hole. "Both me and Artemis looked over here; and neither of us saw it! How'd you find this?"

Wally looked sheepish, "Uh . . . well, I was running, and I tripped over that rock over there." He pointed behind himself. "I, uh, face-planted and found myself staring into this little hole." He rubbed his nose. "I couldn't get the thingy out so I ran back to youse guys."

Superboy strode over and picked up the boulder. Robin quickly snatched the Gemorphomotrix out from its little cave underneath. He looked at it and grinned before slapping Kid Flash on the back; "Good job, dude!"

They headed back to the Bioship. "Does that mean the mission's finished?" Miss Martian asked, "Because we don't know anything about Queen Bee's operations . . ."

"I think Batman will be satisfied with the Omnitrix." Superboy stated.

"_I_ don't!" Robin and Kid Flash exclaimed at the same time. Robin looked the clone straight in the face, "Batman won't be satisfied unless we report a complete success or a complete fail in each of the missions. We succeeded with finding the Gemorphomotrix, but we've hardly _tried_ to find any information on Queen Bee! We need _something_ to report!"

Superboy shrugged and boarded the Bioship wordlessly. The rest of the team boarded and flew back towards their original camp; where the Bialyan soldiers had snuck up on them.

**Please Review! Sorry I can't post for a while, but . . . more good news: Chappy 13 is coming along and I'll be posted as soon as I get back! I think it's safe to say one thing: Prank War!**

**. . . OK, that was two things, look out for Ch. 13: REVENGE, coming as soon as I get back! Enjoy!**


	13. Ch 13 REVENGE

**Author's Note: OK! Here it is! REVENGE! There is definitely more coming! Stay posted, please review! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, nor do I own Ben Ten.**

**Chapter 13: **

The Bioship landed at the landing bay at Mount Justice and the teen heroes went to exit the spaceship. Miss Martian and Artemis stepped towards the door, but Kid Flash held Artemis back "Nuh, uh, uh! Ladies first!" Artemis got over her shock and went to bark, 'After you!' but Wally motioned to M'gann and Robin; "Off you get, you two!"

Miss Martian looked confused, but stepped down the ramp. Robin calmly walked past Artemis and Wally towards the ramp. _He's not going to just _take_ it, is he!_ Artemis exclaimed mentally. Robin was almost past Wally when he suddenly snapped out his foot and kicked Wally hard in the shin. Wally yelped, and let go of Artemis to grab his injured leg as he hopped up and down. Robin cackled and dashed down the ramp.

Artemis snorted at Wally's drama and kicked his other leg. The speedster landed on his butt with a 'thud' and an 'oof'.

Superboy, holding the Gemorphomotrix, gave Kid Flash a funny look and followed Artemis down the ramp and towards the mission room

Batman was waiting, Robin was reporting, "We found nothing on the topic on Queen Bee aside that she was definitely trying very hard to find the Gemorphomotrix and her security in the desert had doubled; there were patrols everywhere looking for the Gemorphomotrix."

Batman nodded, "And. . ?"

Superboy stepped forward, "We found the Omnitrix! . . . Well, Wally did."

The confused and shocked expression on Batman's face was so comical that Robin had to bite his cheeks and look away to keep from laughing out loud.

Artemis was not amused, "IT'S A GEMORPHOMOTRIX!" She exploded, "Gee-morph-omm-oh-trix! The _Omnitrix_ is off of _Ben Ten_!"

Robin choked on his pent-up laughter and had to have a coughing fit to cover it up. Batman scowled, Miss Martian and Superboy stared in shock. Artemis crossed her arms, her face going red; the black-marker goatee and moustache standing out in a vivid contrast.

Batman scowled more when Robin stopped coughing, sending his protégé a disapproving look. "Where's Kid Flash?"

"Last seen, he was napping on the floor of the Bioship." Artemis growled. Robin, realising what had happened, had another coughing fit; M'gann petted him on the back to help him get over it, but only caused him to choke and cough harder; his face was gong red, and he doubled over to hide his grin.

Kid Flash chose that moment to hobble into the room, "Oh no, I'm fine guys, really!" he said sarcastically, "Yeah . . . Thanks _sooooo_ much for your help!"

"You're welcome!" Miss Martian and Robin – fully recovered – sing-songed. "But what did we do?" Miss Martian looked genuinely confused.

Robin coughed a few times, Batman glared, Artemis scowled. Superboy and Miss Martian exchanged bewildered looks when Wally groaned in exasperation and hobbled over to a chair, collapsing onto it with an over-dramatic moan.

The room was silent for a whole minute before Batman grabbed the Gemorphomotrix, turned and left the room, calling over his shoulder; "Hit the showers –you stink – and go home if you wish. You're dismissed" the team separated.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

They all decided to stick around. Superboy reluctantly allowed Miss Martian to turn on the TV for him and they cuddled up on the sofa together and watched a cartoon. Robin plonked onto an armchair and watched as well. Artemis sat heavily on the other armchair and glared angrily at the TV.

Wally zipped in dressed as a waiter; wearing a tuxedo complete with a bow tie, slicked back hair and a fake French moustache and goatee. He had a white dishcloth draped over his left forearm and he carried a notepad and pen. He zipped over to Miss Martian, "Ah, mademoiselle! What may I get for you?" he asked in a fake French accent.

Miss Martian sat up a little and stared in shock.

Wally began scribbling vigorously on his notepad, "Uh huh, oh yesss! Of course! Oh, lovely choice! Yes! Uh huh, Yes! Will that be all?" he zipped over to Artemis, turning to the next page, "Et toi, Monsieur? What will you be wanting?"

Artemis kicked at him and he dodged, putting on a look of fake shock. "I don't know what I'll be _wanting_," Artemis growled, "But if you don't leave me alone, you're gonna be _getting_ a knuckle sandwich!"

"I'm very sorry monsieur, but we do not serve those." He said, unfazed, looking down at his notepad. "How about some French Toast or punch?" he whacked her on the shoulder for emphasis. Artemis kicked at him again, but missed and he zipped over to Robin, "What about Madame-"

Robin's ball smacked into his face; cutting him off mid-word. Robin laughed and crossed his arms, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "I'll have pizza, pronto."

"Ahh, but we do not serve pizza Madame-"

The ball smacked into his face again, "You don't need to _serve_ it, you've just gotta _make_ it!" Robin said smugly.

"And we're gonna _eat_ it." Artemis finished in a menacing tone.

Wally stared, slightly shocked. Miss Martian gave him the puppy-dog-eyes, "Please?" she batted her eyelashes at him and he gave a resigned sigh and dashed out of the room.

Artemis glared after him furiously. Robin looked at Artemis, towards the kitchen, and back to the fuming archers angry – yet comical – face. He sidled over and leaned in to whisper in Artemis's ear, "Revenge is sweet," he hissed, "Saccharine sweet!"

An evil grin spread across Artemis's face. "He's gonna suffer." She growled, "Revenge _will_ be sweet! So very, very sweet!"

Robin grinned slyly, "Allow me to offer my expertise."

Wally came back then, holding out two large trays; a pizza on each. He placed them on the coffee table and gestured airily "Voila! Bon appetite!"

"Oooh!" the teens all crowded around the small table and dug in. "None for you!" Artemis barked at Wally,

Wally grinned and arched an eyebrow, "Now, why would I want your plain-peoples food? _Mine's_ still cooking!" He dashed out of the room and zipped back in a few minutes later holding another tray. On it was another pizza. On the _pizza_ was: 3 different types of sauce, salsa, pepperoni, sausage, zucchini, sardines, bacon, scrambled eggs, polony, gherkins, pickles, steak pieces, minced meat, cucumber, spinach, meatballs, chicken pieces, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, carrot, pineapple, avocado, tomato, tuna, peas and corn, onions, corn chips, potato chips, melted jelly babies and gummy bears and mints, something that looked like crushed cookies, strawberries, cherries and a bunch of other unidentifiable lumps and clumps under layers of 4 different cheeses and mustard.

Wally sprawled out on the now-empty sofa and began to hurriedly devour his meal. The other teens ignored him.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

_Recognised; Kid Flash, B03._ The teleporters announced, "Hey! Wally come here!" Artemis called from the kitchen, "Come on! Hurry up slowpoke, I made you a cake!"

_CAKE!_ Wally zipped towards the kitchen, zoomed down the hall, tripped over the strategically placed wire and face-planted the floor. Muttering, he picked himself up and zipped into the kitchen, tripping over another wire in the doorway and ending up sprawled on the floor in the kitchen. Artemis laughed as he picked himself up again.

Wally found himself staring into a huge, heavily iced, gloriously decorated, double decker layer cake. His mouth began to water, "Oh-h-h-h-h-" Artemis handed the tray to him and he stood there drooling, staring down at it like he hadn't eaten in weeks. "Ca-ake. . ."

He leaned in, and '_BANG!_' the cake exploded and icing spattered across his face. Artemis laughed hard, holding her sides and leaning heavily against the counter to keep from falling onto the floor. Wally's shock turned to fury, "Raaaaaahhh! You're so _mean!_" He lunged at Artemis but she dodged and dashed out of the kitchen, hopping over the tripwire spread across the lower doorframe.

Wally dashed after her, tripped on the wire and slammed face-first into the ground, smearing icing and cake on the linoleum. His face went red as he heard Artemis laughing hysterically down the hall. He jumped up and raced towards the laughter furiously. He tripped on the first wire again and slammed to the ground; only this time there was a conveniently placed tray filled with honey and custard there to break his fall. "Rargh!" he growled, "Eugh! What is this! Ewww . . . oh, that tastes nice!" Artemis's laughter brought him back to reality and he sped towards her murderously. "Artemis! ARTEMIS! Why would you do that!" he found her in the lounge room, leaning heavily against the sofa and laughing fit to burst.

"I, I'm s-sorry! B-but I j-just couldn't resist!" she gasped. He zoomed over to her and she laughed harder at his angry face. "S-sorry, sorry. H-here." She sobered, still chuckling to herself, and pulled a tray out from behind the sofa. On it was a cake identical to the first. "H-here, here's the real one. "

All fury forgotten, Wally happily accepted the cake, "Ohhh! Cake!" he leant in to sniff of it deeply, Artemis whacked his hand and pushed the cake into his face before running down the hallway again. Wally zoomed after her; "Raaaaaaaaahhh! I'm going to _murder_ you!" His foot caught on the tripwire _again_ and he fell into the tray of custard and honey again; which Artemis had moved to the other side of the wire. He stuck out his tongue in disgust at the sticky mess; "Blegh!" Artemis's laughter echoed down the hall and he towards her.

He emerged into the training room, and '_WHAM!_' a pillow smacked him in the face and he lost his balance. Artemis whacked him again and he fell backwards onto his butt. Artemis ripped open the pillow and shook it over him, feathers rained down and stuck to the sticky honey and custard and cake and icing mess all over his face and torso; now also on his back as well.

By the time Wally got to his feet, Artemis had emptied the whole pillow onto him and dashed away.

"Aww _man_!" Wally complained as he slipped on the sticky mess on the floor and fell onto his back, getting all the leftover feathers stuck to himself.

Batman's voice boomed through the cave; _Team; report to the mission room._

"AWW,_ MAN! _Dang it!"


	14. Ch 14 PRANK WAR

**Author's Note: OK, here's chappy 14! Thanks for your reviews! Keep reviewing! I really enjoy reading them. Here is my prank war! ENJOY!**

**About the dreaming; it's supposed to be confusing. If you weren't at least a **_**little **_**confused, I must have failed epically somewhere.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 14: **

Robin walked into the mission room, and found Batman scowling at Artemis and Wally. Artemis had her arms crossed nonchalantly and Wally stared at the floor in sheepish embarrassment; his face red and covered in white icing, chocolate cake, a slimy yellow substance and white feathers. He looked not unlike a half-plucked chicken.

Robin snorted with laughter as he walked over, Batman glared at him and Robin covered it up with a coughing fit. Aqualad walked into the room then and began worriedly petting Robin on the back. Robin magically recovered, jumped up and hugged the leader, "Aqualad! You're back!"

Kaldur's shock was obvious and he gently pushed the raven-haired teen away, "Ah, I missed you too . . ."

"Kaldur!" Miss Martian exclaimed as she flew into the room, "How was Atlantis?"

"Fine, fine; my training is coming along well. Queen Mera was giving me more lessons in sorcery, and says my skills are improving."

Superboy walked in then, stoic as usual, and gave Aqualad a welcoming nod. Batman looked at him, somewhat approvingly, before turning and scowling at Wally. "Explain." He ordered.

Wally looked even more sheepish, "Ah, um, uh . . . eh, well Art-" he looked at her worriedly, and cleared his throat, "Artemis attacked me."

Robin snorted with laughter and coughed again. Artemis whacked him upside the head and he staggered, tripped over his own feet and ended up sprawled on the floor; before quickly picking himself up and standing at attention, he face turning red with humiliation.

Batman turned him menacing glare on Artemis and her tough 'I-don't-care' demeanour wilted and she took an involuntary step back. Batman glared a few seconds longer for good measure, and just when Artemis was beginning to freak out he turned to the rest of the team and spoke calmly, "You're to stay at the cave for the week." He spoke plainly and clearly and all mouths fell open in shock "I will say no more about the mission aspect, but you are to _live_ here. You will attend school and other commitments in your respective cities, but you will sleep, eat and spend all your spare time at the cave. There will be extra training, plus the training floor is free to use to spar in any of your free time. The TV will be _shared_ and there are videogames and movies for your spare time. Any questions?"

The team still stared open-mouthed, and finally Wally squeaked "Why?"

Batman's glare focused on him and the speedster took a step back, expecting a bawling out or something, "I cannot say." Was all that Batman said, before turning to the others, "Any other questions?"

Artemis raised her hand, "Uh, what about our parents . . ?" she asked timidly.

"Your mother has already given her permission, and Flash has informed Kid Flash's parents and received their permission. All your mentors have agreed with the plan."

"Uh, OK . . . what is the plan exactly?" Wally asked,

Another glare, "Act as if it were normal to be living with our hero teammates?" Robin guessed. Batman nodded curtly in agreement, and Robin's eyes widened in shock at being right, before narrowing slyly, "So . . . we need to act like normal teenagers?" Batman nodded again, "And treat this place like our home?"

"Yes, and that includes cleaning any messes you make." Batman turned on Wally again, "The kitchen, hallway, and lounge room await your attention. Any more questions? No? Dismissed."

Wally groaned and face-palmed, it made a squelch as his hand hit his forehead and the custard-honey mixture splatted out and landed on the floor.

"You have to clean that too!" Robin whispered in his friend's ear as he sidled past. "Oh! Batman!" he called and the Dark Knight turned, "Do we have to wear our uniforms or civvies?"

"Civilian clothes." Batman growled, "Unless you're on camera."

This received shocked and confused looks from the whole team, a sly smile spread across Robin's face, but no-one saw. Batman stalked away, Robin disappeared and the team split up.

"Good luck, Baywatch." Artemis hissed as she slipped past Wally, laughing darkly.

Wally groaned, and licked his fingers. "This seriously tastes nice." He mumbled, receiving an "Eww!" from Artemis as she exited the room. Wally plucked the feathers off his face and licked the icing-cake-custard-honey mix happily.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin and Artemis peered around the corner and watched Wally lick all the mess off himself. Artemis pulled a face. "Eww! How can he do that? That's disgusting!"

Robin just grinned, "I knew he would, that's why I put this in it." He held up a small container of powder. "It should make him quite sleepy, perfect time for more pay-back!"

Artemis stroked her marker moustache thoughtfully, an evil grin on her face. "I know just the thing." Robin chuckled and walked away, "Robin?" Artemis called after him, he turned; expecting thanks or praises for his genius, instead: "Do you know how I can get this marker off my face?"

Robin looked thoughtful for a moment, "Nup. Try the internet . . . or _soap_."

Artemis's face darkened at his last comment, but the boy laughed and vanished. Artemis decided to let it side and pulled a packet of markers out of her pocket, grinning evilly as she saw Wally yawn sleepily and stagger into the hall leading to the lounge. He tripped over the trip wire again but wearily got to his feet without giving it a second thought – or a first thought for that matter. He stumbled into the lounge and flopped onto the sofa and was snoring within seconds. Artemis's evil grin widened and she stalked into the lounge, pulling out her markers. She held aloft her weapons and prepared to use them.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally woke up and yawned. His face was sticky and he headed straight to the showers, groaning as he suddenly remembering that he had to clean the hall, lounge and training room. He walked past the mirror, but failed to see what Artemis had drawn on his face.

Around his mouth he had a huge, red, evil-clown grin. His eyes had black X's over them and he had all sorts of scribblings and drawings all over his cheeks. A metallic gold and silver tiara was drawn on his forehead. He jumped in the shower completely unaware of the sabotage and emerged a few minutes later.

He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bucket of water and a rag and began scrubbing the cake mess. He moved into the hall, then the training room, then the lounge room. Artemis looked up from the couch and almost screamed in rage when she was his squeaky-clean and shining face. Robin, sitting on the couch beside her looked over and chuckled.

When Wally left, Robin whispered in Artemis's ear; "OK, 1: you should've used _permanent_ marker, 2: you should've sabotaged the shampoo, soap, shower or asked me to do it. 3: there's always next time; make him another cake . . ."

Artemis rolled her eyes, "I doubt he'd fall for that again."

"Well; adjust!" Robin exclaimed, "This is a war! – only, he doesn't know it yet – but you need to change your plans if he catches on! Get Megen to make a cake . . ." his voice trailed off, "Or at least _serve_ it . . ."

Artemis jumped up, "Tomorrow; all-out war!" seeing the evil grin on Robin's face she worriedly thrust her hand at him, "Truce?" she asked hopefully.

Robin sighed resignedly, "For now, it's you and me against Wally."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The next morning was Monday, Wally opened his door and millions of Ping-Pong balls rained down on him in an avalanche. He stood there and when they were all on bouncing around on the floor he saw that someone had taped newspaper across the doorframe and filled the gap between it and the door with the balls. _Smart_ he though dryly, he wasn't happy about it, but he had to admit it was a pretty good prank. _Now, I wonder who could have done that?_ He asked himself sarcastically, "ROBIN!" he hollered, ripping the newspaper aside, _a prankster always stays nearby . . . _

Robin appeared around the corner, "Yeah?"

Wally looked down at the Ping-Pong ball mess, "Ahem!"

Robin laughed, "OO-OO-OH! Someone got you _good_!"

"You mean you didn't do this?"

"Nope!"

"Do you know who did?"

Robin was already gone, chuckling to himself.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally headed to the kitchen, found a bottle of juice in the fridge and poured himself a glass. He took a swig; it was tasteless. _Food dye in water,_ he growled mentally, _seriously?_ A camera flashed in front of him and he blinked away the huge green spot in front of his eyes in time to see Artemis dash out of the kitchen. He growled, but decided to let it slide.

He poured himself a bowl of cereal; he pulled the milk out of the fridge and sniffed it cautiously before pouring it all over his cereal. He took one bite, and decided it was too bland. He grabbed the sugar bowl and spooned heaps of sugar onto his breakfast, took one bite and spat it out, _SALT! Who would do that!_ Another camera flashed and Artemis laughed,

"You should see your face! _MUCH_ better than the first one! I rated the first one a 2, but the salty one was 10 out of 10!"

Wally growled angrily and Artemis dashed away; Wally rushed after her furiously and ran down the hall and tripped over the tripwire _again_. He got up angrily but Artemis was nowhere to be seen. Wally zipped around the cave but couldn't find the archer anywhere. He angrily went back to the kitchen and sat down with a huff. Without thinking, he grabbed the bowl of cereal and shovelled some of it into his mouth. His eyes almost popped out of his head at the overpowering saltiness.

He spat out his mouthful and dashed to the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. He quickly scrubbed his teeth and whole mouth trying to remove the salty taste; when he had succeeded he rinsed his mouth thoroughly to remove the toothpaste taste. He looked up at the mirror and smiled; his shiny green teeth reflected in the mirror, causing him to scream.

His lips, mouth, teeth and hand where the toothpaste had touched were stained green. He looked down at his toothbrush; green as well. He squirted a little of the toothpaste onto his finger and rinsed it off; there was a green spot stained on the skin. Angrily he grabbed a new tube of toothpaste and squirted a little onto his finger and rinsed it off; nothing. He proceeded to scrub his whole mouth again until he had gotten as much of the green off as possible. He angrily ran out of the bathroom. "Robin!" he shouted furiously and dashed around the cave trying to find his friend, shouting; "Robin! Robin? ROBIN!"

"WHAT?" Robin was sitting on the couch, writing on a notepad, and judging from the annoyed and exasperated look on his face Wally gathered he had answered several times already.

"Did you put food dye in the toothpaste?" Wally demanded.

"No." Robin replied indignantly, then laughed, "Dude! You've got green teeth!"

"I know." Wally growled and stormed away.

"Hey!" Robin shouted after him, "You have to clean the mess you made in the kitchen! And then we gotta go to school!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Hey, Wally!" Wally looked over at Joe, being careful to keep his mouth shut. "How ya doin'?" Joy walked up to him and slapped him on the back.

"I'm fine . . ."

Joe burst out laughing and dashed over to his other friend, "Hahahah! You were right! He _does_ have green teeth!"

Wally frowned and growled angrily, heading straight to his classes; hoping like anything he wouldn't get called on in class.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick peered around a corner at Gotham Academy and saw a very red-face Artemis storming down the hall, screaming over her shoulder at a laughing Brody, "SHUT UP!"

"Yes sir!" the bully laughed. Artemis was already out of earshot, so Brody headed after her.

Dick grinned evilly and tripped Brody up as he strode past. Brody face-planted the floor and furiously scrambled to his feet, his ears turning red. "Who tripped me?" he bellowed, but Dick had already melted into the crowd. Several of Brody's friends were laughing at him, "It was a little twerp!" one exclaimed through his laughter.

"Who?" Brody demanded, his friend shrugged and the bully grudgingly decided to let it slide.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After school, Wally rushed to his room, the door opened and he froze; the room was filled with smoke and a reddy-orange glow in the corner caught his attention. "Ohhhh NO! This has gone too far!" he dashed through the door and got himself tangled in the plastic sheet spread across the doorway and slipped on the Ping-Pong balls still scattered across the floor.

He crashed onto his back, untangled himself from the plastic and got a whiff of the smoke; mist, from a smoke machine. He growled and crawled to the corner where the 'fire' was. Fairy lights; red orange and yellow were blinking happily. He angrily turned off the power and the smoke machine, dashing out of the room he slipped on the balls again and bitterly got to his feet. _Artemis_, he began a furious search for the archer. She was nowhere to be found.

Instead he went into the lounge to do his homework; Robin was already sitting on the sofa doing his. Wally sat on an armchair and pulled open his bag, "Oh, no way!" he cried in exasperation.

"What now?" Robin asked in annoyance without looking up.

"I left my maths book at home!" Wally exclaimed.

"Well, go get it!" Robin sighed.

"Am I allowed to?"

"Batman never said you couldn't." Robin pointed out, "But if you're unsure ask him."

Upon receiving permission from Batman, Wally rushed home to retrieve his forgotten Maths book. He found it and was headed out the door when the phone rang. "I'll get it!" he called, even though there was no-one else home and snatched up the receiver. "Wally West." he answered

"Hello," a deep voice said, "I'm looking for the Walls."

"I'm sorry, who?" Wally asked in confusion.

"The Walls, I'm looking Walls."

"Sorry, this is the West household, there are no Walls here." Wally said politely.

"Oh," the voice said, "Then how does your roof stay up?"

Wally face-palmed as Robin's cackle echoed down the line.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin still laughing at his prank and walked into his room, he froze: there, sitting smugly on his bed was a certain, dreaded teddy bear. _HOW? _Robin exclaimed mentally, _B-but I left it at HOME!_ He grabbed the teddy and shoved it into his bag and headed to the zeta tubes.

Robin dashed upstairs at Wayne Manor and rushed into his room. Alfred's voice called down the hall, "Master Richard? Is that you? What are you doing home?"

"Yeah, it's me . . ." Robin searched for an excuse, "I, uh had to grab my book." he snatched a random book of the shelf and dropped the teddy on the floor.

"Oh, of course." Alfred appeared outside the door as Robin slipped out, "Well, enjoy yourself."

"I will." Robin hugged him briefly before dashing away.

"Do not run in the halls!" But Robin was already gone.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Tuesday, Wally opened his door and Ping-Pong balls rained down on him again. He ripped the newspaper aside and stormed off to the kitchen

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After school, Wally went into the kitchen to find a snack; the whole team – minus Robin – was in there, eating cupcakes. Miss Martian handed one to Wally, it was chocolate with thick, creamy white icing. "Oh, YUM! Thank you Green-Cheeks!" he grabbed the cupcake, took a huge bite and swallowed; his eyes bulged and he pulled a face. Artemis snapped a photo and he whirled on her in outrage, wincing in disgust at the revolting minty taste in his mouth; the icing had been replaced with toothpaste. "GRRRRR!"

Artemis laughed "It'll help get that green off your teeth!" he jumped at her as she ran down the hall, but his feet wouldn't move apart and he lost balance and crashed to the floor.

He sat up to untie his laces and came face-to-face with Robin, hiding under the bench. "Robin!"

Robin cackled and dashed out of the kitchen, "Oh! There's Robin!" Miss Martian exclaimed, "Robin, do you want a cupcake?" Robin was already heading down the hall. Wally jumped up and dashed after him; he was partway down the hall when he tripped over the wire AGAIN and found himself on the ground. He furiously detached the wire from the wall and ran after Robin and Artemis again. Again, he couldn't find either anywhere.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin walked into his room, "WHAT? NO!" the teddy was sitting on his bed again, Robin stared in shock and slight worry for a while before grabbing the stuffed toy and shoved it deep into a drawer and stormed out of the room, he stopped; remembering the reason he'd gone into the room in the first place and stormed back into his room. He grabbed his jacket and stormed out again. The door automatically sliding shut behind him.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wednesday morning Wally opened his door, Ping-Pong balls tumbled all over him again. He growled angrily and stormed off to find either Artemis or Robin, they had already left for school. He angrily followed suit . . . after breakfast.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After school, Wally went into his own room to change for training. He opened the door and stared with shock, his mouth open in soundless horror. He fell to his knees and cried "_!_"

Every surface of the room had been covered with posters . . . of Justin Bieber. He speedily removed every single one of them from his walls, roof, floor, door, desk, bed and closet and threw them all in a pile on the floor and sat heavily on his bed; panting with the horror of the situation.

Robin appeared at the doorway, smirking; "Dude, you're late for training." He said smugly. Wally groaned and fell back onto the bed.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Training was over and Wally sat on the sofa in humiliation. Robin had whipped him one handed – his other hand was shoved deeply into his pocked, reason unknown – and Artemis had creamed Wally seemingly effortlessly and Canary, believing that the speedster needed to improve his skills, had then used him to demonstrate a series of new moves.

Wally flicked through the channels angrily, before deciding nothing was on. He stood up and found himself on the floor. He furiously untied the knot holding his laces together; "ROBIN!" In response a certain cackle echoed through the room. Wally stood up, ready to fight, when Miss Martian called from the kitchen. "DINNER'S READY!" All other thoughts forgotten, Wally zipped into the kitchen. The whole team was already there, helping themselves to a tray of sausages, a bowl of mashed potatoes and dish of steamed vegetables. "Whoa!" Wally exclaimed, "Miss M, you've sure outdone yourself this time!

"Oh, I didn't cook them!" M'gann replied happily, "Robin did!"

Wally spat out his mouthful of sausage, "WHAT!"

Robin, wearing an apron, laughed; "Relax dude!" he exclaimed, "I wouldn't sabotage food that _everyone's_ going to eat!"

"What about the salt in the sugar bowl?" Wally accused.

Robin laughed again, "Did the camera flash _blind_ you! That was _Artemis_!"

"Ohh, so I suppose she dyed the toothpaste, and made the avalanche of Ping-Pong balls, and the fake fire, and put the dyed water in the juice bottle and Justin Bieber posterfied my room?"

Miss Martian gasped at the 'JB' name and Superboy pulled her close. Robin snorted with laughter, "Artemis Justin Bieber posterfied your room?" he laughed so hard he almost dropped the tray of sausages he was holding. Artemis was standing beside the bench, her face red with pent up laughter and the moustache and goatee still bold against her skin.

Miss Martian looked sick and pale, "Ohhh," she groaned weakly, "Don't _ever_ scare me like that again . . ." she looked like she was about to pass out and Superboy and Kaldur helped her out of the room and led her to her bedroom.

Wally whirled on Artemis, "Why?" he exclaimed, "_HOW?_"

Artemis laughed as Robin set down the tray of sausages, "When you weren't looking." She replied smugly. Robin laughed and they high-fived.

Wally whirled on Robin, "What was your part in this?" he demanded,

"Chief advisor!" Robin replied smugly. "Now eat your food before it gets cold!" he pointedly grabbed a sausage and bit into it.

Wally sighed and loaded his plate with food, before smothering it with tomato sauce. He shovelled almost the whole plateworth of food into his mouth and chewed briefly before swallowing. He reached for more and suddenly, "YAAAAAHHHHH!" he rushed to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk, sculling the whole thing. "Ahhhhh! That's HOT!"

Robin was laughing to himself, but Artemis was literally rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. "I-I put t-t-tobasco sauce in the tomato s-sauce b-bottle!" Robin laughed as well.

Wally didn't bother to chase them, his eyes were red and tears streamed down his face from the hotness of the tobacco sauce, "N-now, that's just MEAN!"

**Author's Note: Apologies to Justin Bieber and Justin Bieber fans for picking on him, but it was unavoidable. Sorry, I hope you enjoyed my longest chapter so far! *whew!* Almost died of exhaustion writing this!**

HHHHHHhdiohsiohofhiodsaG


	15. Ch 15 FURY

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews!**

**I know I probably got the layout of the cave wrong, I know there's a hall leading to the lounge and kitchen and you can see each room from the other but I added an extra hall in anyway; sorry for any confusion. Hope you enjoy my chapter, please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 15: FURY**

Thursday morning and an avalanche of Ping-Pong balls rained down in Wally as soon as he opened his door. He sighed and ripped through the newspaper, water splashed over his head. "Yaahhh!" he jumped, before angrily looking down at himself. "Grrrrrr!" He changed his clothes and zipped over to the kitchen, and tripped over the wire in the hall again. He pulled it out of the wall and grabbed a bunch of random edible things from the fridge before heading off to school.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After training, after school, Wally was sitting on the couch, fuming. He had been very careful not to fall for any pranks. He had given a wide berth to the cake Artemis offered him, he had carefully tested all of the toiletries when he had showered and he had flatly refused to go anywhere near Robin. Robin didn't seem to notice.

Wally had meticulously sniffed and tested every morsel of food he had so much as touched; yet Artemis and Robin's hysterical laughter echoed into the room, and it was a known fact that the joke was on _him_. Wally glared the fuzzy TV screen. How could they laugh at him? He hadn't fallen for _any_ pranks that afternoon! There was nothing to laugh at! His teeth weren't even green anymore!

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin and Artemis finally managed to stop laughing and the pair peered around the corner at Wally sitting in angry confusion on the couch.

"Hah! This is the best by _far_!" Artemis gasped, before being overcome by a fit of giggles, "Getting him all paranoid! He's convinced we're going to try prank him today!

Robin chuckled as well, "Yep! Paranoia; you gotta love it! Did you see him, ha! So careful, yet he doesn't realise that was all part of the prank!"

This was followed by more laughter.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Friday morning was different, Wally walked to the door and stood aside as he opened it, so the barrage of Ping-Pong balls would go straight past him; but there were no balls. He peered outside; no newspaper.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed, "She's stopped pranking me!" He stepped outside and, "OOOUUCHH!" he screamed as a mousetrap snapped over his shoe. "RAARRRGHHHH! _ARTEMIS!_" He zoomed towards the kitchen at top speed. He dashed down the hall and tripped over the tripwire. _ARGH! She set up the tripwire again!_ He furiously detached the wire from the wall, rolled it into a wad and shoved it into his pocket before storming into the kitchen, "ARTEMIS!"

"Hmm?" she looked up from her hot drink absently, the marker moustache and goatee had finally washed off "Yeah? What is it Wally? Ooh, you don't look so well! Are you feeling OK?"

"NO I AM NOT FEELING OK, OK? I'M SICK OF YOU PULLING THESE STUPID PRANKS ON ME!"

"What stupid pranks? Look you need to calm down! Here, do you want some hot chocolate?" she held out the small jar.

Somewhat reluctantly, Wally accepted the jar. He grabbed a mug and went to the bench to make his hot chocolate. He began to unscrew the lid, and suddenly it burst off and sprung past his face, closely followed by the spring that had been pressed inside the jar. Wally shouted in surprise and jumped two feet into the air. "YAAAHHHH!"

Artemis was laughing so hard she fell off the stool.

"_ART-E-MIS!_" Wally lunged at her and she jumped up and ran down the hall. Wally zoomed after her and tripped over the wire in the hall again. "What?" he exclaimed and reached into his pocket where he had put the wire, it wasn't there. "ROBIN!" Robin's laugh echoed down the hall from the lounge. Wally furiously stood up and stormed into the room. Robin and Artemis were sitting on the sofa laughing hard. Wally stormed over, his face red and his blood boiling. "STOP IT!" he bellowed, "STOP PRANKING ME! JUST _STOP IT_!"

The laughter stopped immediately, Artemis started to look worried, "Jeez-"

"NO! JUST SHUT UP! STOP TALKING TO ME! STOP ANNOYING ME AND_ STOP PRANKING ME!_"

"Wally, I'm sorry, I-" Artemis began but Wally cut her off,

"_NO!_ LEAVE ME ALONE!" he stormed out of the room. "I'm going to school." he stomped off towards the zeta tubes. _Recognised: Kid Flash, B03_, the voice echoed from down the hall and there was a yellow flash of light from the other room and Wally was gone.

"I've gone too far!" Artemis started after him worriedly but Robin held her back,

"Don't worry." He said dismissively, "He'll be back."

"What makes you so sure?" Artemis's worry was evident in her voice and displayed clearly across her face.

"Be patient!" Robin said nonchalantly, flopping down onto the armchair, "It'll only take him, say - . . . ten seconds? . . . To realise he's left his math book behind!"

As if on cue, the zeta tubes announced Kid Flash's arrival and Wally stormed back into the room. He stomped over to the coffee table and looked for the book, but it had moved. He began looking under cushions and all around the room. His anger turned to panic, "Guys! Help me find my maths book! If I don't get my homework done, Mr Soanso's going to _kill_ me!"

"Wally, I'm sorry!" Artemis blurted.

Wally looked up, "Uh, you're forgiven . . . an' I'm sorry for going nuts at you . . . and for drawing on your face, and teasing you and setting a booby trap in your closet . . ."

"YOU SET A BOOBY TRAP IN MY CLOSET!"

Wally slapped his hand over his mouth, "Darn I ruined the surprise!" Artemis glared at him furiously, her face turning red. Wally's panic returned, but it wasn't due to her, "Now, seriously! Help me find my math book! Please!"

Robin stood up, and moved the cushion he'd been sitting on; revealing the missing maths book.

"ROBIN!" Wally accused

Robin shrugged, "I figured you wouldn't hear Artemis out unless you were forced to stay." he handed Wally the book. "Now, I believe we need to go to school." he stared for the zeta tubes.

"Hey, Joe!" Artemis called, Robin turned; but so did Wally, "Who's Joe?" They both asked.

Artemis looked dejected, "You're name's not Joe?" she asked Robin. He shook his head, one eyebrow raised. "Are you sure?" she pressed.

"I'm pretty sure he'd know his own name!" Wally scoffed, "But even _I_ know it's not _Joe_! Where'd you get that from, anyway?"

It was Artemis's turn to shrug and she headed towards the rooms. "You go on ahead to school, I need to grab a few things before I head off."

Robin and Wally exchanged looks, shrugged and headed to the teleporters.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis went straight to the cave after school; there was no-one else there. Robin had informed everyone the day before he had homework club after school and would be back at the cave right before training, Keystone High and Happy Harbour High finished a littler after Gotham Academy so Wally, Connor and Megen weren't at the cave. Artemis went into her room to change. She opened her closet and pink paint sprayed over her. She shouted in surprise, but calmed herself. She deserved it. She carefully checked her clothes and found that all the clothes inside her closet were fine; the same couldn't be said for the ones she was wearing though. Sighing, she changed into her standard jeans, singlet, jacket and boots before cleaning the mess.

_He _did_ say he'd booby-trapped my closet._ She sighed mentally.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally decided it was payback time. He set up a bucket of slime over a doorframe, and attached a string to it so if it didn't tip by the door underneath moving, it would be pulled over. He hid around the corner and waited for Artemis. He heard footsteps and held his breath to listen to the reaction. The door opened and he heard an angry shout. He jumped up, "Ha! Got you!" and he froze, _Oh damn._

Superboy glared at Wally furiously, his face red underneath the green slime covering it. "Grrrrr!"

"Heh, heh" Wally bolted away. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Superboy charged after him "RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Well, well, well! If it isn't young Richard Grayson!" a gloved hand slapped over Dick's mouth and a strong arm wrapped around his waist; pinning his arms to his sides and pulling him back around a corner into the alley. Dick wriggled and struggled as the men pulled him backwards through a doorway into an abandoned building. Dick found his feet when the man stopped dragging him and started to kick and thrash around, but another man grabbed his legs and tied them together tightly.

The first man tied Dick's hands behind his back, sat him on a rickety wooden chair and tied the teen to it. "Now," he growled as he grabbed a cloth and twisted it, "Wouldn't Mr Wayne pay a pretty sum to get his whelp back?" The second man, shorter and fatter and wearing a black and red ski mask. Opened Dick's mouth and the first man; wearing a grey and blue ski mask, went to gag Dick. Dick promptly bit his hand. The man gritted his teeth and pulled his hand away, before quickly gagging Dick and storming away swearing harshly. The shorter man tightened the gag and turned Dick to face him. Dick found himself staring into cold grey eyes behind the black and red ski-mask. "I wouldn't try that again, kid." He hissed, "Things won't get pretty." He stormed away.

Dick started to wriggle his hands to loosen the ropes, they pinched his wrists and he frowned in concentration, twisting his hands around and trying to reach the knot. The first man walked in again, wrapping a bandage around his hand. He tied it and glared at Dick, Dick glared right back at him. "Quit struggling, kid." The man sat down at an old desk in the corner of the cluttered room and pulled a piece of paper out of a drawer. He was wearing gloves, and he picked up a pen and slowly and carefully wrote out a ransom note. Dick watched intently, discreetly trying to find the knot again.

The man finished the note, placed it in an envelope and sealed it. In the return address space, he put a skull over a large green 'X'.

Dick wriggled a little harder and tried to get to the knot. He twisted his arms and frowned.

"I hear you used to be quite an acrobat!" The man said somewhat cheerfully, then his face darkened and he laughed evilly, "But I'd like to see you get your hands free, I used to be in the marines; knot tying is my thing."

Dick wriggled a bit more, _And knot _untying_ is my thing!_ He thought, _but why would he tell me he was in the marines? He wouldn't . . . unless it was a lie, or he wanted to point me in the wrong direction in finding out his identity . . . or, he doesn't intend to let me go!_

Dick struggled harder.


	16. Ch 16 KIDNAPPED

**Author's Note: Thanks for your continued support! I love reviews; same as most people! Please REVIEW! **

**Oh my goodness, my posting is catching up with my writing!**

**Yes, I was writing these before posting. I was writing 12 I think when I posted 1. But now my ideas are coming slower . . . and I'm posting faster than I'm writing! This means two things: 1) I'm gonna be posting slower; sorry! And 2) I'm gonna have to speed up my writing speed! Any ideas are welcome! I need things to bulk up the plot!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. **

**Chapter 16: **

"Where's Robin?" Black Canary asked, the team looked around.

"Probably off with Batman." Wally replied without looking up.

"I was told he would be here." Black Canary placed her hands on her hips

"Probably something came up suddenly." Wally shrugged and stood up, "Well, at least I don't have to worry about being whipped and humiliated in training!"

Black Canary frowned and her eyes narrowed slyly, "Wally and Miss Martian, full powers, GO!"

Wally's mouth fell open, "Wha-aat? We don't have to stay in the training room do we?"

Black Canary grinned evilly, "No, you have to stay on the training _floor_! Begin!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Bruce Wayne sat at his office desk in Wayne Manor and stared at the note in his hands:

MR. WAYNE, LEAVE $200 000 IN CASH AT THE PARK FOUNTAIN ON SUNDAY NIGHT AT 12.00. OR YOU WILL NEVER SEE RICHARD GRAYSON AGAIN!

**TELL NO-ONE ****x**** . . . OR ELSE!**

"Alfred?" Bruce asked worriedly

The butler appeared in the doorway, "Yes, Master Bruce?" Bruce silently handed him the note. "It's probably some kind of joke . . ." Alfred began after he'd read the writing.

Bruce shook his head, "He wasn't at training; I told Black Canary he was with me." He started for the door, "I have two days to find him." He went down to the Batcave, _Analyse the note!_ He thought to himself, and pushed past his worry; _Dick can take care of himself! This is what I trained him for!_ But another thought contradicted that, and he hurried; all the more worried: _No, this is _not_ what I trained him for!_

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick managed to loosen the ropes slightly; the short man with the black ski mask returned from delivering the note, "Done and done!" he walked in and examined the ropes, "Naw! This'll never do!" he tightened the ropes around Dick's wrists, and the teen winced as they cut into his skin. The man walked off.

Dick looked over his shoulder at the new knot; _Well, Shorty certainly was never in the Marines!_ He quickly untied the knot and wriggled free of the other ropes before standing up. He found the small bottle of knock out powder he had used on Wally that was still in his utility belt hidden in his pocket and snuck out of the room. Shorty and the Marine Dude were sitting at a table in the next room eating a meal.

Dick watched them for a little while, he found a bunch of files and started reading; he was soon captivated but filled with dread. A plan formed in his mind and Dick found a plank of wood and threw it at the chair he had been sitting on; knocking it over with a crash. The two men jumped up and rushed into the next room as Dick dove for cover. They ran straight past him and Dick dashed to the table and sprinkled the powder over the food on both plates; it blended in perfectly with the cheese. He dashed back out of the room and rushed towards the door exiting into the alley. He threw open the door but Marine Dude grabbed him and pulled him back into the building. "Not so fast!"

Soon Dick was sitting in the chair again, tied tightly with extra knots for good measure. Marine Dude and Shorty picked up Dick's chair and moved it to the 'dining room'. Dick had clenched his hands tightly into fists as Marine Dude tied them, and he relaxed them now and the ropes weren't as tight. He discreetly tried to untie the knots again, but the ropes wrapped around himself and the chair were tight as well

The two men finished their meals quickly and skulled their water. "I'll watch the kid." Marine Dude growled, "You rest, I'll wake you up to swap lookouts." Shorty nodded and left the room.

Dick glanced around the cluttered, dirty room; _I can't believe these guys are living in such a dump!_ He eyed Marine Dude's clothes, _No, they're not living here! They're staying here so I don't know where they _actually_ live!_ Marine Dude's eyes closed and his head dropped onto his chest and Dick wriggled out of his bonds again. He picked the Marine Dude's pocket and slipped out of the building. He looked down at his watch. He had two hours. He quickly made his way back to Wayne Manor; running almost the whole way. He dashed up the long driveway to the huge mansion. He rang the doorbell, knocked twice and leaned against the doorframe to catch his breath.

The door opened and Alfred's face lit up with joy when he saw Dick. The old butler impulsively hugged the teen, and shouted into the house: "Bruce! He's here!" Bruce was already halfway down the stairs, "See!" the butler cried happily, "I told you it was just a prank!"

Dick shook his head, "If you're talking about the ransom; it isn't."

Bruce and Alfred stared, Alfred ushered Dick inside, "Come, let's get you calmed down and . . ."

"No." Dick cut him off, shaking his head again, "This is more serious." He turned to Bruce, "I read their files; they're not _only_ doing it for the ransom money. They're working for someone, and they've been tipped off on the fact that a certain Bruce Wayne is none other than the Dark Knight: Batman."

Bruce frowned, "How?"

Dick shrugged, "I don't know, but for our identities sake; when you go to hand over the money you go as Bruce Wayne, _not_ as Batman . . . _or_ . . ." he stopped and grinned, "I know this kinda wacky, but sitting in a chair for hours on end makes one's mind wander. Reciting science equations got boring after about . . ." he did silent maths in his head, ". . . ten minutes." Bruce glared at him, "Just joking; it was more like an hour, but still . . ." he whispered his plan into Bruce's ear.

Bruce laughed and hugged Dick, "I think you're insane! But it just might work!" Alfred had left the room and came back with a sandwich, which he handed to Dick, "Okay then," Bruce sobered and clasped Dick's shoulders, "You go back, I'll speak to the others." He chuckled, "No-one will suspect a thing!"

Dick's watch beeped, "They will; if I don't get back before they wake up! I have 10 minutes before the sleeping powder wears off!"

"I'll drop you off." Bruce offered, Alfred handed Dick a bottle of water and the teen sculled it as Bruce led him towards the garage. As they drove quickly through Gotham, Bruce exclaimed; "Ha! What would the police think if they knew I was taking my ward _back_ to the kidnappers?"

Dick looked across the seat at his guardian, "Do they know?"

"No."

"Oh!" Dick suddenly remembered "I have this." Dick handed Bruce the Marine Dude's wallet, "There are two guys; a short one and a tall one called Bill Smith. Bill said he was in the Marines; and he ties a mean knot." Dick rubbed his red and sore wrists. Bruce glanced at the wallet briefly, before looking back at the road. "Oh! Another thing!" Dick pulled his utility belt out of his pocket. Bruce nodded approvingly, "I need you to take this, I don't want them to find it on me." Bruce nodded, and Dick tossed it onto the back seat.

They arrived at the tumbledown building and Bruce helped re-tie Dick to the chair, only not so tight. "Good luck." He whispered.

Dick twisted around to face him, "I have a recording device in my shoe, I'll record anything discriminating that they say."

Bruce nodded, slightly worried; "If things go wrong I'll come back for you."

Dick shook his head, "No, _Batman_ will!"

Bruce smiled slightly and hugged his ward briefly before straightening, "Anything else?" he whispered.

"Yep." Dick looked down at the rag on the floor, "You'd better gag me."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally groaned and flopped onto the couch; running was almost useless against a telekinetic Martian in a confined space. _Black Canary did that just to humiliate me!_ He grumbled mentally; _no-one learned anything from that training session except that apparently Black Canary likes to see me humiliated!_ Wally frowned at the fuzzy TV screen angrily.

A large shadow fell across him and he jumped in surprise, whirling around to see Batman glaring down at him. "We need to talk." The Dark Knight's deep voice said quietly, yet commandingly.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis sat on the lounge in her pyjamas with M'gann, watching a cartoon. Superboy sat on one armchair and Kaldur on the other. "I wonder where Robin is." Artemis said absently.

"He's with Batman." M'gann said wearily: fighting exasperated speedsters with telekinesis can be quite tiring.

The room was silent for a minute, except for the cartoon characters' squeaky voices and annoying laughter. Artemis was too weary to be bothered, "I wonder where Wally went." She said with a yawn.

M'gann, Connor and Kaldur shrugged. Artemis yawned again: watching a speedster get whipped by a telekinetic Martian was energy-draining. After yawning again, the archer decided she should go to bed. Artemis wandered down the wrong hall and Wally stepped out of one of the doors, looking worried and upset. "Oh, Hi Artemis." He mumbled when he saw her.

"Hi Wally." She mumbled, not noticing his distress.

"You're going the wrong way to your room, Artemis." He pointed out.

"Oh."

"Here," he grabbed her arm gently and led her back down the hall and to her room. " G'night." He whispered as Artemis tumbled into her bed and the door slid shut with a hiss. Wally sighed and headed to his own room. He passed Robin's on the way, and paused. He looked over at the door sadly. He sighed heavily before heading into his own room; his head hung dejectedly.


	17. Ch 17 ANGER MANAGEMENT

**Author's Note: **

**If you consider 'damn' a swear-word, I'm sorry in advance.**

**Guess what! I don't own Young Justice. Amazing huh? If I did, people would probably hate me! **

**One thing; in season two, they'd still be the same age! Though aliens are still cool . . . **

**Chapter 17: ANGER MANAGEMENT**

"_GRRRAAAAAARRRRHHH!_" Wally grabbed Superboy's shoulders and used the strong teen's momentum to flip the clone over his head before slamming him to the ground hard.

_SUPERBOY: FAIL. -5 _appeared beside Connor's shoulder as he slowly got to his feet. _How did that happen?_

"Well done." Black Canary praised Wally. "Now go against Artemis."

Artemis stepped forward onto the training floor and jumped into a fighting stance. "Ready when you are." She locked eyes with Wally, and he glared back. His green eyes looked so furious it daunted her. She shook her worry away and took a deep breath, resuming her stance; only more defensive. "Come on."

Wally leapt at her and she sidestepped, but he stuck his foot out and swept it behind her legs. Artemis jumped, but was slightly off balance. Wally took advantage and pressed his attack. Artemis put up a strong defence and finally managed to turn the tables. Wally defended and she pressed her own attack; strong, fast punches and kicks rained down on the speedster but, surprisingly, he parried them all seemingly easily and was soon on attack again.

Their fight raged across the training floor, random holograms awarding and deducting points appearing beside them constantly; _Kid Flash: +3_, _Artemis: +2_,_ Kid Flash +5, Artemis: -2, Artemis: -4_: Wally was winning.

Artemis started to get angry as well, but Wally's fury seemed to be increasing. Artemis lunged at the speedster, and he used it to his advantage. That move, _that one move_, the one she _always_ fell for; and Artemis was on the ground. _Artemis: - 6._ Artemis growled; _it's like a nightmare come true! Robin always gets me with that! _Artemis lay on the floor for a minute; accepting her defeat and catching her breath. To her shock, Wally wasn't any happier. Instead of helping the archer to her feet good sportsmanlike, he stormed out of the room. Artemis could've sworn she saw tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

Sure enough, as Wally stomped down the hall and Artemis helped herself to her feet, she saw the speedster angrily brush the back of his hand over his eyes. Artemis stared after him, "What's wrong with him?" she asked the others; concerned.

Black Canary, Miss Martian and Kaldur stared. Superboy shrugged, and rubbed his shoulder.

"And where's Robin?"

More shrugs, and there was a loud 'BANG' and an angry shout from the direction of Wally's room, everyone recognised the sound instantly; Wally had punched the wall, most likely putting _another_ hole in it.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick woke with a start. His head pounded and his wrists throbbed, he blinked wearily. The gag was loose, and he tried to spit it out of his mouth, but a shadow fell over him, and it tightened. Shorty stepped around the chair and tightened the ropes around Dick's body and the chair, then his feet.

"Yer like a little fish!" he complained, "All slippery! How'd you manage to loosen these?" Dick glared, Shorty laughed. "Oh yeah, that's right! You can't talk!" Dick continued to glare. Shorty laughed again and walked out of the room.

Dick immediately began to wriggle again; Shorty was _really_ not that good at tying knots. Soon Dick had space to slip his hands out of the loop around them, and to get his feet apart as well. He sat quite comfortably on the chair, and sighed. He would just have to wait out the day.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally growled and punched the wall again. Early mornings weren't really his thing, plus the fact that he was almost _sick_ with worry and he had only slept about an hour the night before didn't help with his attitude. He just hoped that no-one told his mentor about his fury; Barry would tell his parents; and Wally _really_ wasn't in the mood for long lectures and another visit to the psychiatrist, or his counsellor, or that man who insisted he could help with the 'anger management issues' that _actually _didn't exist.

Wally had great anger management! It was simple: To get rid of anger; bash stuff up. That simple philosophy explained all the questions haunting the minds of his teammates.

_What was wrong? _He was angry and upset.

_Why are there holes in the wall? _Bash stuff up.

_Whose boxing bag is this?_ Wally's

_Why does it look like a freight train hit it?_ Bash stuff up!

_Who put the hole in the wall above the TV? _Wally.

_Why? _Bash stuff up!

_Who took Artemis's baseball bat? _Wally.

_What did he want it for?_ BASH STUFF UP!

_Why's he so angry?_ . . . . . . . . uh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . Ok, not all the questions. There was _one_ that had everyone stumped. _Why was Wally so angry?_

Wally attacked the boxing bag with more ferocity then before. "Grrrrrr- YAH! HA! RA! ARGH! GAH!" *pant, pant* "RAR! GA! Huh, huh, huh; ARGH!" *pant*

Artemis walked into the gym and saw Wally fighting the bag like a normal boxer would; instead of dashing around it in circles and sending so many punches at it at one time that his arms were a blur; he was jumping around it, his fists in front of his chest in a defensive stance and sending short, sharp and strong punches into the bag; grunting with each hit. "HUH! RUR! GA! HA!"

"Wally?" Artemis ventured.

"YAH! HAH! RA! BLAH!"

"Wally!" Artemis sounded slightly worried.

"HA! RAH! GRAAA! BAA! YAH! YAH! _YAH!_" his last hit knocked the poor bag off the hook and sent it flying across the room.

"WALLY!" Artemis shouted.

Wally's miserable, exhausted and worried eyes looked over and met hers.

"Wally, what is wrong!" Artemis was worried as well, and genuinely concerned.

Wally sighed and his shoulders dropped. He walked over to the bench and sat down heavily; picking up his water bottle and taking a long swig. "I-I'm fine, really."

Artemis placed her hands on her hips, "Do you seriously think I'm _that_ stupid?" Wally looked sheepish, Artemis glared at him, though still concerned. "Now, seriously, what's wrong?"

"A- my . . . my friend, in Gotham, has been kidnapped . . . a-and I'm not allowed to help."

"_What!_" Artemis leapt up, "Who says you can't help a friend?"

"Batman."

A mixture of emotions crossed Artemis's face; realisation, confusion, fury, worry . . . "W-what? Why? W-who is your friend."

Wally sighed again. _This was tougher than he'd thought. _"I'm friends with a younger kid, called Dick Grayson. He was kidnapped for ransom, Batman told me last night; plus he said I wasn't allowed to help rescue him."

"W-well, it's OK isn't it? Y'know, if Batman and Robin are rescuing him . . ?"

Wally shook his head. "That's just it; they're _not_. At least; not at the moment." Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You see, they're still working on tracking him down, as well as the normal Gotham crime and another problem." Wally sighed again, and wiped beads of perspiration off his brow, "T-they have until Sunday night to figure it out; or else Dick's dad's gonna have to pay the ransom. B-but . . ." he paused.

Artemis looked into his eyes, "But . . ?" she prodded softly.

Wally sighed heavily again, "But I think that the kidnappers don't actually want to let Dick go. I think they'll just take the money and _dispose_ of him."

Artemis's eyes hardened, "Batman won't let that happen . . ."

"Probably not, but . . ." Wally growled and jumped up angrily, "I just feel so _useless_!" he kicked the other bench.

Artemis jumped at the loud crash it made. "Wally . . ."

"I'm sorry . . ." he interrupted her, "I- I didn't mean to take my anger out on you and the others." He sighed again. "It just kills me to know that my friend is being held hostage, and Batman . . ." he growled again, "Instead of just swooping in there; or letting _me_, he's taking his time about it and refusing to let me help!" he kicked the bench again, Artemis jumped again, and Wally blushed sheepishly, _again_, "Uh, sorry . . ."

"N-no, it's okay." Artemis looked thoughtful. "Hey, you still in the mood to bash stuff up?"

"Yeah." Wally sighed again, "I'm feeling pretty stressed, plus I need to work on my skills; Black Canary tries not to show it, but I know she's disappointed in my combat techniques . . ."

"Well . . ." Artemis looked out the corner of her eye at him slyly, "I know a really great way to relieve stress . . ."

"How?"

"Bash stuff up!"

Wally glared at her, "Yeah? Well it doesn't seem to be working!"

Artemis chuckled, "No, no, no . . . Boxing bags and walls don't fight back . . ."

"Artemis . . ."

"But . . . I've found a really great thing to beat up that helps relieve stress, gain skills and knowledge, _use_ skills and knowledge, as well as giving you a proper sense of victory when you win!"  
". . . Missions?" Wally guessed

"Sorta . . ."

"Well, _what_ then!"

Artemis grinned, "There's a _lot_ of crime in Metropolis and Star City right now; more than in Gotham believe it or not, and fighting _thugs_ and _villains_ and other people is _just_ the thing I would suggest to cure you of your condition!"

Wally grinned, "OK, let's go! I'll go get suited up!"

Artemis grinned as well, then it faded slightly, "Oh, one more thing!"

"Yeah?"

"I'm doing this for the team, and no-one is to see us together; you hear!"

Wally rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever!" and he walked out of the room. _Whew! Great job, Wally; if-I-do-say-so-myself!_ He though somewhat happily, _I told the truth without giving anything away!_

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally didn't bother with the motorbike, he ran. Artemis roared along beside him on her bike, and glanced around for any trouble. They soon found it. A lot of it.

It was almost like Wally's alibi story being told again, only not so extreme; basically, there were plenty of cat-burglars, thugs, bank-robbers and gangsters to go around. Not bothering to be stealthy; Wally and Artemis jumped right into the middle of a gang-war and finished it in less than ten minutes. They called the police and moved along.

The 'baddies' didn't stand a chance. A normal speedster and archer were hard enough; but an angry and stressed speedster and a cranky, quick-tempered archer was a hopeless fight – for the thugs that is. The Star City Police were very busy that night; receiving several anonymous tips and arriving at the locations to find all the wanted criminals and gangsters – plus the not-so-wanted ones – all either unconscious or tied up tightly.

Night fell and the teens headed to Metropolis.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick's eyes slowly opened and he realised he must have fallen asleep, he groaned; the chair wasn't _that_ comfortable! Dick noticed that the minimal light that crept in during the day was gone, and realise that it was night. He sighed and closed his eyes again, ignoring the cramps of hunger in his stomach; he hadn't eaten since the small sandwich Alfred had given him the night before.

Dick let his head drop against his chest and his messy ebony hair fall over his forehead. If all else failed, sleep always helped; it chased all thoughts, worries, pain, hunger, _everything_ from his mind. He could forget everything and sink happily into the blackness.

And he would have, if Bill – the Marine Dude – hadn't scraped another chair up next to him at the table and placed his plate of lukewarm food down on the table with a bang. Dick's eyes snapped open and his head jerked up. The next think he knew, the gag was loosened and pulled out of his mouth. A plastic cup of water was shoved at his face. "Here kid, you look like you're about to die."

Dick didn't open his mouth, and Bill pressed the rim of the cup to the boy's dry lips, "C'mon, I don't want to be responsible for your death! We're just after the money!"

_Liar! _Dick scoffed mentally.

"Look kid, if we wanted you dead; you'd be dead. We need you alive to collect the ransom! So drink the damn water!"

Dick still kept his lips pressed firmly together, _Nup!_

"Aw, seriously! C'mon! It's just water!" Dick glared at him, and he pinched the boy's nose and pushed the rim of the cup between his lips and tipped the cup and Dick's head back. Dick's teeth were clenched tightly and the water splashed across his face and ran down the front of his shirt. Bill swore; "Dammit kid! It's only_ water_!"

Dick coughed and glared at him.

Bill swore again and left the room, taking the food with him. Dick smirked to himself, but hid it as Bill came back in with another cup and an unopened bottle of spring-water. "Here," Bill held the cup up in front of Dick's face. He rotated it, and tipped it to show it was clean, empty and hadn't been tampered with. He then did the same with the bottle of water; "See; the cup is clean, the water is new," he opened the bottle, filled the cup with water and then took a swig from the bottle. "The water is fine, so drink it!"

Dick still refused the water.

Bill shouted in rage and cussed vehemently. Dick grinned inwardly; if all else failed, he could still mess with his kidnappers' heads! Entertainment! Bill angrily put the cup on the table in front of Dick and stormed out of the room, muttering to himself "Darn, fussy, idiotic little brat! Doesn't want the water, Bah! Little, fiendish . . ."

Dick couldn't hear the rest of Bill's mutterings, but he grinned all the more anyway. He looked over at the cup of water, and his thirst got the better of him. He leaned forward as far as the bonds would allow and managed to bite the rim of the cup. He picked it up with his teeth, and tipped it back carefully. The water ran into his mouth, tasting sweet to his dry tongue. He tipped his head back to get the last of the water, before carefully placing the cup back on the table.

Bill chose that moment to walk back in again; he saw the cup and his face turned red behind the ski-mask. Dick smirked and Bill's face turned even redder, he roared furiously and stormed out of the room again, shouting a barrage of unintelligible ravings that Dick took to be curses. His grin broadened and he chuckled.

Shorty walked in. "Hey, Bill! You untie the kid's gag?"

Bill hollered something from the other room.

"OK! You want me to put it back on?"

Another unintelligible shout, Shorty shrugged and walked out of the room. Bill shouted something again and Shorty walked back in again, looking a little embarrassed. "Right, I knew that." He mumbled, dragging out a chair and sitting down heavily. He pulled a packet of cards out of his pocket and set up a game of solitaire. Dick watched intently, almost bored. He wasn't sure how to bug Shorty; but he knew one thing that drove both Bruce and Barbra nuts whenever they were playing solitaire:

"Hey, you can put that ten on the jack."

"Oh, thanks!" Shorty moved the ten and put it on the jack. He stared at the cards for a minute or two, before picking up a new card and staring some more.

"You can put that pile on the left on top of the king."

Shorty seemed to suddenly realise that and quickly moved them, "Cheers, mate"

Dick frowned then shrugged, _Oh well._

Shorty stared at the cards on the table for ten whole minutes, and Dick noticed about four possible moves, but Shorty kept staring and sifting through the pack. "Three, c'mon three, I need a three . . ."

There was one pile that needed a three that Dick could see, but there were more obvious moves. Dick opened his mouth to point them out, but changed his mind. "Hey, Shorty!" Shorty's face turned red behind his mask and he growled slightly, Dick grinned; _Ha! A weakness!_ "Shorty, why don't you use _that_ three?"

"Which one? Is it red?"

Dick noted that both the red threes were already on the table, one in a pile with a two on top and the other on an ace pile; but he nodded at an eight of hearts. "Yep, right there!"

"Where?"

"There!  
"Where? I don't see a red three!"

"It's right _there_!"

"_Where_!"

"_THERE!_" he pointed his chin towards the eight, but Shorty kept looking very carefully at the cards on the table.

"WHERE!" he bellowed

"THERE!" Dick shouted to hold back his laughter.

"I DON'T SEE IT!"

"For goodness sake Shorty! It's right _there_!"

"_WHERE!_"

Dick snorted with laughter, but disguised it with a cough, "THERE!"

Shorty looked closely, but his face was red with impatience, annoyance and anger. "Dangit! WHERE!"

Dick nodded at the eight again. "Right, THERE!"

"WHERE? Oh, here? This one?"

"Yeah!"

"THIS IS AN _EIGHT_ YOU STUPID KID! ARE YOU DYSLEXIC OR SOMETHING?"

Dick burst out laughing and Shorty furiously swept his hands over the cards. They all messed together and many fell onto the floor. Shorty stared at them for a moment before picking them up, breathing deeply to calm himself down. Dick laughed harder, _Man! I'd hate to see what he'd do to a Rubik's Cube!_

Shorty glared at Dick furiously, "Shut it, kid!" Dick laughed harder. Shorty growled and shuffled the cards. "You know how to play poker?"

Dick shook his head.

"How 'bout speed? Or snap? Or Go Fish? Or Cheat?"

"Not without hands." Dick pointed out.

"Oh." Shorty sighed and shuffled the cards some more. Dick laughed again to himself, Shorty's anger returned; "WHAT'S SO _FUNNY?_"

Dick laughed harder.


	18. Ch 18 FIRE!

**Author's Note: OK, here's the next one! Thank you for your reviews! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 18: FIRE!**

A not-so-angry Wally sat at the bench in the kitchen, shovelling cereal into his mouth like there was no tomorrow and Artemis leaned against the doorframe, sipping a hot drink. They both paid little attention when the computer announced in the room down the hall: _Recognised: Red Arrow, B06._

They heard footsteps echoing down the hall and Roy stormed into the kitchen and slammed a newspaper down onto the bench in front of Wally. "What is this?!" he demanded

"Uh, a newspaper?" Wally looked slightly confused, and just a little irritated at such a stupid question.

"Not the newspaper, Kid Idiot!" Roy growled, "What's written on the front!"

Wally picked up the newspaper and flipped it open; _Man! I feel like my dad!_ He thought absently and read the title out loud: "HEROES STOP CRIME IN STAR CITY! Yeah; so?"

"That was you, wasn't it?!"

"Yeah; so?"

Roy growled and snatched the paper back, "That's my city!"

"It's Artemis's too!" Wally shot back, "And there's enough crime to go around!" _Wow, that sounded really bad . . ._ he thought.

Roy ignored Wally's last comment, and he seemed to be about to say something about 'Artemis's city' but he bit it back. "Yeah, well, what about Metropolis? That's Superman's city! You were there too, weren't you?!" he accused.

"Yeah; _so_?! Superman didn't seem to mind, and there was so much crime going on there, I think the Man of Steel would've been happy for the help!" Wally replied indignantly.

Roy glared at him. "You still should've stayed here!"

Wally quirked an eyebrow, "You think it would be better for the heroes to sit around and do nothing instead of helping stop crime in cities; I mean, that's our _job_ isn't it? Not to sit around; but to stop crime!"

"In our _own_ cities!" Roy growled.

Wally smirked, "I think you just fell out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!" he received a death-glare from the archer. "You seem angrier than usual," Wally observed, "Maybe you should try the anger management therapy Artemis suggested me?"

"_**I DON'T NEED ANGER MANAGEMENT!**_" Roy shouted.

"Oh, come on! You'll love it! Won't he Artemis? We'll have him all smiles in no time!"

Artemis dumped her mug in the sink and headed to the door, "Whatever Baywatch, you can if you want; I've got more important stuff to do!"

Wally snapped his mouth shut, "Oh, yeah?!" he challenged, "Like what?!"

Artemis whirled around, and in a high-pitch, very girly voice said; "Oh, you know! Paint my _na-ails_, and wash my _ha-air_, and have a _show-er_, and get ready for _schoo-ool_, and-"

"It's _Sunday!_" Wally exclaimed

But Artemis was already heading down the hall, "And put on my _make-up_, and wash my _ha-ands_, and-"

Wally rolled his eyes, knowing that Artemis would probably _puke _if someone suggested she wear make-up.

Roy glared after Artemis, "Just stay out of my city, OK?!" he stormed out of the room.

Wally shrugged and went to refill his bowl.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick woke up at about eight o'clock and blinked the sleep from his eyes. His head pounded painfully and his wrists stung, as well as the corners of his mouth; where the rag had cut into when he was gagged. He looked around and moaned at the dizziness that washed over him; allowing his head to fall against his chest again.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Time seemed to stretch for an eternity in Dick's subconscious state and he hardly noticed when Bill and Shorty moved to the doorway of the 'dining room' and began to talk in low voices. Without realising it, Dick pressed the toe of his left shoe against the top of his right sneaker; activating the recording device with a faint beep.

It wasn't until the name 'Batman' was mentioned that Dick awoke completely and tuned into the conversation; keeping his head down and eyes closed to maintain the illusion that he was asleep.

". . . He'll show! We can be sure of it! But whether he shows a Bruce or Bats is a different matter; he could take us out either way, but the boss said he'll be there, collecting evidence to put Bats out of action . . ."

"Who is he, anyway?" Shorty interrupted.

"Who? The Boss? Dunno! Never saw his face, and his voice was scrambled. He said just to call him 'Boss'!" Bill answered, "Anyway, even if Bruce isn't Batman, we still have the money."

"What if Batman shows, and he's not Bruce?"

"Then we know Bruce has a connection with him." Bill stated, "Or . . . or else he really _does_ know everything that goes on here . . . Still, if anyone tries to stop us; boss said to kill the kid; or at least threaten to, nothing is to get in our way! We will find out Bats identity, and his weakness! And then we can take that black-hearted Bat down!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Kid Flash and Flash ran through Central City streets; zooming past buildings, and people running crazily in random directions. Little children gasped and pointed excitedly when they saw the red and yellow blurs zip past; some older people sighed with relief and stepped out of the way.

But not all the civilians were so civil, in fact; most of them weren't.

Plenty of people were screaming and running in the opposite direction of the heroes, other people blocked the streets, while many curious onlookers rushed to the site of the explosion.

Flash and his protégé raced towards the burning office building and ran up the walls. They split up. Kid Flash leapt through a broken window on the tenth storey, while his mentor ran higher up and entered at the 21st floor.

Kid Flash followed the sound of screaming people and found several office workers huddled in a burning room, trying to escape the flames that crept steadily closer. Kid Flash realised he couldn't get to them through the fire, began to spin; creating a small twister. The flames changed their direction, and reached towards him; but never made it. The wind he made blew out all the fire, and the people in the room cheered. "Follow the stair case!" Kid Flash ordered them, "Don't take the elevators!" he zipped out of the room towards more screaming and raised voices.

Kid Flash made sure the people made it to the stairs; which the fires had miraculously not touched, yet. He found more people and sent them all in the same direction, telling them to help anyone on their way out, he ran up to the next floor.

Once Flash and Kid Flash had made sure everyone was headed down the stairs, Flash ran down the outside of the building, and Kid Flash went down the stairs to make sure everyone made it out. He reached the foyer of the building and saw the people all rushing like madmen towards the door. Fires burned up the walls of the foyer and dirt started to fall from the ceiling, then small hunks of wood and debris; then slightly bigger lumps. People covered their heads and fought to get through the doors. The fires crept across the floor and the peoples screaming intensified. Kid Flash began spinning again, pulling the flames towards himself and putting many of the smaller fires out. The people streamed through the doors, firemen assisting them.

Boards and hunks of debris fell from the ceiling all around Kid Flash; loosened by the winds he was creating. Kid Flash stopped spinning and made a dash for the door once the last of the people were out, he was almost a the door when the roof finally caved in.

Large planks of wood and hunks of concrete fell over the exit, and Kid Flash turned towards the stairs to see more fire and debris blocking the way. The smoke in the room thickened and Kid Flash dropped to the floor, more debris rained down on him.

There was shouting from outside, and another explosion; then more screaming outside.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick opened his eyes again when Bill walked into the room with another cup of water. "Kid, if I get any trouble out of you this time so help me . . ." he started as he brought a cup of water towards Dick's face, Dick didn't give him any trouble; he was too weary, thirsty and sore to bother making Bill mad. He drank the water and dropped his head again; it pounded in protest to the sudden movement. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

Bill grinned, slightly pleased, and sat down at the table. He pulled out a switch-blade knife, and began sharpening the blade. He started muttering to himself, about Batman, and Dick turned the recording device on again. It was highly sensitive, and would definitely pick up the words; even though Dick couldn't hear them over the buzzing in his ears.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Kid! Kid!" Flash shouted frantically, "Kid! Where are you?!"

Kid Flash could hear his uncle's voice and forced the fogginess from his mind. He breathed slowly and shallowly to avoid inhaling too much smoke, and slowly looked around; glad he was already wearing his goggles. The last explosion was on the floor above, and hadn't helped the falling-debris matter in the foyer. Kid Flash started to crawl forward, but found he couldn't; something was pinning him down.

A huge plank of wood had fallen over his thighs, pressing them against the ground, but not hurting him. He slowly squirmed forward, grumbling about the difficulty. His grumblings stopped as soon as he saw the huge concrete hunk balanced above his head. "Oh, heck!" It was then he realised what was stopping it from falling; the plank of wood that had fallen across his legs, was wedged between two others; keeping them almost upright. Those two other beams were what kept the concrete slab pressed against the wall. Kid Flash stifled a gasp when he realised if the wood over his legs fell any further downwards – like it would if he moved – the concrete would come crashing down.

_Oh, man! _Kid Flash complained mentally, _OK, think!_ He looked up at the concrete, _Yeah, I should be able to move fast enough . . ._ he quickly made sure he had enough room to move his legs slightly, before digging the toes of his boots into the ground and commando crawling forwards at a super-speed. As soon as his feet were free of the wood he turned sideways and rolled aside; just as the concrete slammed down on where he had been.

Kid Flash curled into a ball and took shielded his face from the smoke. He took a deep breath and held it, before jumping up and looking around; the roof looked ready to cave in, and the door was still blocked. The stairs were encased with flames and blocked as well. Through the windows, Kid Flash could see people milling around outside the CAUTION tape border and police barricades. Flash was trying to unblock the doorway from the outside, along with many policemen, firemen and a few civilian men. Kid Flash looked at the ceiling again, and felt the pain in his lungs; there wasn't enough time.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis hooked Wally's boxing back up and started punching it, hopping around and mimicking the way Wally was doing it the day before. "HA! YA! RA! YA! HA!" she wasn't angry, just bored. She would have watched the TV; but Superboy was already watching the static, plus she wasn't really in the mood to watch Kid Flash rescuing people, saving the day, having fun, basking in the admiration of being a hero . . . the list went on. She would rather destroy the speedster's boxing bag.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Kid Flash grabbed a plank of wood and rushed at a window with little fire around it. He smashed the wood into the window, which shattered noisily. People outside screamed and stepped away, flames roared up in front of the window, hungry for the oxygen, and the roof creaked threateningly. Kid Flash's lungs screamed for air, but he refused to breathe. He took a short run up and leapt through the flames and the gap in the window; miraculously avoiding being scratched by the glass.

He landed on his shoulder and rolled several times, before slowly crawling to his feet; gasping for air. Flash appeared at his side and helped him up. "Everyone, get back!" he hollered, helping Kid Flash away from the building. The police and a few of the fire-fighters urged the people away from the burning structure and Flash helped his protégé past the barricades as the building came crashing down. People screamed and scuttled to get away and the police shouted orders to the people and other policemen through megaphones. The fire-fighters _still_ tried to put out the flames.

The crowd grew larger, and Kid Flash was helped over to one of the ambulances parked a little way away from the buildings. There were several office workers, a fireman and a policeman being assisted, and a nurse immediately led Kid Flash to a seat and sat him down. "Here, let me look at you." He said,

"I'm fine, really!" Kid Flash insisted hoarsely.

The nurse ignored him and gave him a quick check-up; after which he announced, "Well, there doesn't seem to be any major injuries or burns; I think you'll be fine!"

Kid Flash rolled his eyes.

Flash glared at his protégé but the nurse didn't notice. "Well, thank you for your help, Flash! And you too, Flash Junior!"

"Kid Flash." Kid Flash corrected him.

"Oh, sorry! Kid Flash!" the nurse said. "Thank you, anyway! You saved lives!"

The two heroes nodded, and Kid Flash stood up and allowed his mentor to lead him away from the ambulances. They were promptly swamped by reporters.

"Flash, Flash! How did you . . ."

"Kid Flash! What was . . ."

"What was it like being trapped in the building?"

"We've had witnesses say you made a tornado . . ."

"How does it feel to be a hero?"

"Is Kid Flash your son?"

"Did you suffer any injuries?"

"How did you make the tornadoes?"

"How old are you?

"Is Flash your father?"

"What was it like being in a fire?"

"How did you run up the side of the building?"

"What was it like witnessing the explosions from inside?"

"What was it like having your son trapped inside the building?"

"Can we have a statement, please?!"

Flash spoke to the paparazzi, and Kid Flash answered a few questions; before they both zoomed away. "Bah! Reporters!" Kid Flash complained.

Flash chuckled. "You know you love it!"

Kid Flash laughed dryly, "Yeah, but not when I've just been trapped inside a burning building, and almost got squashed by a piece of concrete while holding my breath!"

Flash chuckled again.

They were silent as they ran for a while, before Kid Flash exclaimed, "Man, I'm HUNGRY!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick's eyes snapped open, and he immediately realised that night had fallen. Bill was untying the rope strapping him to the chair. Dick struggled a little as Bill hoisted him over his shoulder, but his pounding head and aching body didn't allow him to wrestle against the man. Bill carried him out of the building and tossed him into the backseat of a waiting car. The car roared to life, and sped down the alley towards Central Gotham Park.

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**


	19. Ch 19 RESCUE

**Author's Note: OK, I hope you like this, bear with me! This is it, what you've all been waiting for! . . . OK, not really; this isn't the ending. It's just Dick getting freed.**

**All confusion intended.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 19: RESCUE**

The midnight moon shone down on Bruce Wayne as he walked quickly towards the fountain in Central Gotham Park. He moved to stand in the ring of light cast by the single lamp beside the fountain and looked at his watch somewhat nervously, 11:56. He looked down at the empty briefcase in his right hand and looked out into the shadows of the Park.

He strained his eyes, and noticed a slight movement in the shadows to his left; "Richard?" he called hopefully.

A tall, strong-looking man stepped out of the shadows. He wore a grey ski mask with blue edging on it. His arm was wrapped around Dick's shoulders and a knife was held to the teen's throat. Dick's hands and feet were no longer tied; he was too weak to put up much of a fight. "Let's see your money, Wayne." The man growled.

"Release Dick first!" Bruce called,

The man shook his head and nodded towards the shadows. Another, shorter man stepped forward and strode towards Bruce, "Show us the money!" he growled.

"Give me back my son!" Bruce argued.

"We both know he's not your son! Now hand over the briefcase!" Shorty shouted. Lights flickered on in houses across the street and he looked slightly worried, "Come on! The money, or Richard gets it!"

Bill moved the knife menacingly closer to Dick's throat. "Bruce . . ." Dick croaked, _Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. . ._ Bill tightened his grip on Dick and stepped forward, holding the knife threateningly. People started to run into the streets; alerted but the shouting. People started shouting, and a few civilians were on their phones to the police. Bill and Shorty started to look worried, "Hand over the money!" Bill shouted, pressing the blade to Dick's throat. Dick pulled away, but Bill held him tight and pressed the knife tightly to Dick's skin. "Come on! Hand over the dough! You may think you have all day, but the kid here certainly doesn't!"

"Bruce . . !" Dick's hoarse voice sounded slightly scared and worried.

Bruce shoved the briefcase into Shorty's hands, "Let go of my son!" he demanded, "Dick!"

Shorty opened the briefcase, "It's empty!" he shouted furiously, whirling on Bruce.

Bruce made a dash towards Dick, "Dick!"

Bill pulled the boy back into the shadows, "Stay away, Wayne! Or else Dick here gets it!"

Dick gulped, _this definitely sounded a lot better in my head . . ._

"DICK!" Bruce shouted, as Bill quickly retreated. The people in the street and park were making a large commotion and police-cars and news vans screeched to a stop in front of the park; which was quickly filling with people.

"Stay back!" Bill shouted, "Or I'll kill Richard Grayson!"

The people kept their distance; the police made sure of that.

"Let go of my son!" Bruce shouted.

Bill was already quickly retreating backwards towards the car. "We'll contact you again, Bruce! You'll get one last chance to hand over the money, or else . . ." he didn't finish his sentence.

There was a flap of a cape, and a tall, dark figure stood over the villain. Bill didn't have time react as his knife was quickly knocked out of his hand and his grip around Dick was forced open.

A smaller figure grabbed the boy and dashed into the light. Robin carried Dick over to Bruce Wayne, as Batman knocked out Bill. Shorty whirled on Robin, who handed Bruce his ward and leapt at the masked kidnapper. Shorty was soon lying on the ground; unconscious. The police rushed in and handcuffed the two kidnappers, and Bruce held Dick close. News cameras were recording the whole scene, and microphones were being shoved into the faces of Bruce, Dick, Batman and Robin.

The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder shot their grappling hooks into the night sky and disappeared into the darkness. Bruce ignored the cameras, and led Dick quickly through the park to his limousine.

Dick sat in the passenger seat wearily, he sighed and looked out the window, watching the tall, dark and brooding Gotham buildings zip by. He looked about to say something, but Bruce beat him to it.

"OK, next time; I'll just swoop in and save you."

"_Next time_, won't exist." Dick pointed out, "We'll both make sure of that. I'm not going to be so stupid to get grabbed _next time_. And if I do, I'm not going to go back; no matter how great my idea seems!"

Bruce chuckled, "It was a pretty good idea, though. You did a pretty good job, acting scared. You're a good actor!"

"Bruce?" Dick looked over at his guardian, "I wasn't acting."

Bruce looked slightly sheepish, "Neither was I. I was actually quite worried."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

_Recognised: Robin: B01. Kid Flash: B03_

Robin and Wally arrived at the cave at the same time, both in uniform and Wally definitely looking happier.

There was no-one else in the cave; M'gann and Superboy and Artemis were still at school, Kaldur had gone out. Keystone High was closed for the day, and no-one expected Dick Grayson to be at school on the day after being returned home after a kidnapping, so both boys wouldn't have been questioned for arriving at 11:30 in the morning, but instead they arrived at 3:00.

"Oh, by the way, Wally . . ." Robin began as they headed towards the lounge, "Thanks so much for stretching my uniform for me! It fits me _so_ much better now!" he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"What? Do you only have one uniform?" Wally stopped walking and gave his friend a funny look.

Robin stopped as well and spread his hands wide, gesturing at his uniform, "Does it _look_ like I only have on suit?!" he exclaimed, "Seriously! If I only had one, and this was it; it would be too big and sagging!"

"Are you calling me fat?!" Wally accused, appearing to get angry.

"No," Robin scoffed, "Though it wouldn't be surprising; the way you eat!"

Wally glared furiously, "Fast metabolism!" he growled.

"Uh . . . eh . . . sorry, dude . . . I-I didn't mean . . ." Robin stammered, slightly daunted by his friends furious glare.

Wally grinned, showing that he wasn't really mad. "Don't worry, I'll take it as a compliment!"

Robin's eyebrows shot up.

"Wally posed and showed off the muscles in his arms "You just called me tall and muscular!"

Robin stared coldly, "Well; tall-_er_ and muscular-_er_ than _me,_ because you're two years old-_er_ . . ." he muttered.

Wally ignored his friend and continued showing off his muscles.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis walked into the lounge to see Robin sitting on the couch like he'd never left and Wally – back to his obnoxious, happy self – posing in front of the TV, showing off his muscles to the reflection on the blank, black screen.

"Hate to burst your bubble, Baywatch, but you look like a retard." Artemis called.

Wally deflated and his arms dropped to his sides.

"Hey, Robin!" Artemis greeted the young ninja, "Where've you been?"

Robin raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you listen to Batman? Or Black Canary? Or watch the news?"

Artemis looked confused.

"There was a kidnapping in Gotham on Friday night. A boy called Richard Grayson was held for ransom by two men by the names of William Smith and Jonah Miller. Batman and I were working on the case all weekend, we didn't actually solve it in time . . ." he admitted, "But we stopped them in time to save the kid and catch the villains." He looked over at Wally, "Grayson's a good friend of Wally's." he said quietly, "Batman refused to let him help, and if I'm correct; I believe he was quite mad for a day or two."

"You got that right." Artemis muttered, "But now I know what you're talking about, Wally told me; I just forgot."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin walked into his room and glanced at the bed. He went to the drawers and tugged one open, pulling out the jeans. He tugged open another drawer and glared at the teddy-bear sitting there smugly. He threw it on the floor and grabbed a shirt.

He changed into his civilian clothes and placed his uniform in his closet before heading back out of his room and into the lounge. Superboy was sitting on the sofa; M'gann was next to him, watching the news.

The screen was showing the slightly blurred image of Dick's face, pleading and desperate; with Bill behind him pressing the knife to his neck. The reporter's voice echoed around the room, announcing to the audience the events of the night before. The screen changed to a clip of Batman leaping out of the shadows into Shorty and knocking him down and out. Robin watched as the 'Batman and Robin' on the screen shot out their grappling hooks and pulled themselves into the night.

The screen changed to show Dick Grayson being held close by Bruce Wayne, and then being led down the path through the park towards the waiting limousine.

M'gann noticed Robin standing behind her, watching the TV, "You did a good job!" she praised him.

Robin grinned and walked out of the room.

Robin went straight to Wally's room. Wally was sitting on his bed, throwing a rubber ball at the ceiling. Robin stared, "Hey! Wally, that's mine!"

Wally grinned, "You know it!"

Robin sighed and grinned back, laughing to himself. "Yeah, whatever; I want it back though!" he plopped down onto the bed and Wally sat up. "Thanks." Robin whispered, "Y'know, for going along with the plan."

Wally grinned, "You're welcome!"

Robin sighed, "I-it feels kind of awkward accepting praise for rescuing Dick Grayson, when I was the one being rescued!"

Wally's grin broadened, "Well, you're just gonna have to put up with it! Because it was _Robin_ who rescued Dick Grayson! And _you_ are Robin! Just because I carried the mantle for an hour to keep suspicion away; doesn't mean you're allowed to feel awkward!"

Robin grinned, "So, what was it like, being me?"

Wally chuckled, "Man! I didn't have a clue what to do with the utility belt! I ended up just memorising where the grappling gun was and used only that!"

Robin laughed. "And what about Superman?"

"Well, he knew where the Batrangs were, but he just stuck with his grappling gun and his fists." Wally laughed, "He had to be extra careful to make it seem he was using martial arts instead of super-strength to knock those two out!"

Robin laughed again. "I'm just glad, no-one realised it wasn't _actually _me and Bats in the costumes!"

Wally stopped laughing, "_I'm_ just glad it all turned out OK! We were late, and it seriously looked like that Bill dude was gonna kill you!"

Robin smiled wryly. "Yeah, I know."

Wally suddenly jumped off the bed and zipped over to a drawer, "I almost forgot, Batman didn't say if he wanted this back or not." He pulled a black wig out of the drawer, the messy ebony hair was the same colour and style as Robin's.

Robin shrugged, "I dunno, keep it. Batman never said anything to me."

Wally grinned broadly and stuffed it back into the drawer. "Well, y'never know when a messy black wig could come in handy!" He paused, and laughed.

"What?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Souvenir!"

Robin rolled his eyes.


	20. Ch 20 BLONDE

**Author's Note: OK, this one is just crazy and purely for my enjoyment; sorry, I had writers block!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 20: BLONDE**

Wolf, Superboy and Kaldur were sitting in the lounge room when Wally walked in.

"Hey guys, how did the blonde break her leg raking leaves?" the two stared at him in confusion, "She fell out of the tree!" Wally laughed, "Oh, oh, what does a blonde owl say?" he asked Superboy, grinning like a maniac.

Superboy stared, "I don't know. . ."

"What? What?" Wally laughed, "Get it? Instead of 'hoo, hoo, it's 'What? What?'!?"

Superboy still stared, "No, I don't get it."

"Haven't you ever heard a blonde joke before?" Wally looked at Kaldur and Connor in shock when they both shook their heads.

"OK, Oh I know! Supey, did you hear about the blonde coyote? Got stuck in a trap, chewed off three legs and was still stuck!"

Superboy stared down at him, "Is that supposed to be funny?" Wolf glared at Wally.

Wally nodded enthusiastically and turned to Kaldur, "Why did the blonde scale the chain-link fence?"

"I do not know, why did the blonde scale the chain-link fence?" Kaldur asked.

"To see what was on the other side!" Wally laughed and zipped out of the room.

Superboy looked confused, "But can't you see _through_ chain-link fences?"

Wally zoomed back into the room, "Hey, Kaldur!" Wally called, zipping over to the Altantean, "How do you sink a submarine full of blondes?"

Kaldur looked down at Wally in utter confusion, "What?"

"Knock on the door!" Wally exclaimed, and zipped away, laughing hysterically.

Kaldur and Superboy exchanged worried and confused looks.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"How to you keep a blonde busy all day?" Wally asked, leaning against the doorframe of Artemis's room. Artemis ignored him. "Put her in a round room and tell her to sit in the corner." Wally laughed; Artemis ignored him.

"OK then, what do you call it when a blonde dies their hair brunette?"

"What?" Artemis growled.

"Artificial intelligence!" Wally laughed, Artemis rolled her eyes.

"What do you see when you look into a blonde's eyes?" Wally grinned with pent up laughter. Artemis glared at him warningly. "The back of her head!" Wally laughed.

Artemis threw a pillow at him. He laughed again and dashed down the hall.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally walked into the kitchen to find M'gann pulling a tray of cookies out of the oven. He grabbed a handful happily when she held the tray towards him "How do you keep a blonde in suspense?" he asked through his mouthful.

"I don't know. How?" M'gann asked.

"I'll tell you tomorrow." Wally walked out of the kitchen, hiding his grin.

"No! Tell me now!" M'gann exclaimed, "C'mon Wally! I want to know, tell me now!" Wally burst out laughing and ran down the hall. M'gann stared after him in confusion. "But I want to know!" she complained.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis walked into the kitchen as Wally walked out; he grinned at her, but said nothing. Instead he handed her a piece of paper and walked away silently. Artemis looked down at it with slight confusion. On the paper was written three words. PLEASE TURN OVER.

She turned the paper over, PLEASE TURN OVER.

"Grrr!" she scrunched it into a ball and tossed it into the trash can.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis walked into the lounge and found Robin and Wally sitting on the couch. Wally looked at Artemis, to Robin and back to Artemis before saying, "Hey Artemis, How can you tell if a blonde's been using the computer?" Artemis glared at him, "There's white-out on the screen!"

Robin smiled in mild amusement. Artemis didn't.

"How can you tell if another blonde's been using the computer?" Wally asked.

Artemis growled slightly, but Robin chuckled; "How?"

"There's writing on the white-out!"

Robin laughed, Artemis rolled her eyes and sat down on the arm chair; switching on the TV with the remote on the coffee table.

"How can you tell when a fax had been sent from a blonde?" Wally continued. Robin shrugged. "There is a stamp on it!" Wally and Robin both laughed. "OK, OK, H-how do you drive a blonde crazy?" Wally asked.

Robin looked sideways at Artemis, "Tell her blonde jokes?" he guessed.

Wally shook his head, "Give her a bag of M&Ms and tell her to alphabetize them!"

Artemis glared at the cartoon characters on the screen and tried her best to ignore the heroes.

"How does it work?" Wally continued. Robin shrugged, Artemis glared. "Because she wonders; '_Does 3 come before E, between M and W, or at the end?_'!"

Robin laughed, Wally ginned and Artemis glared at the TV as if she willed it to explode.

"What job function does a blonde have in an M&M factory? . . . Proofreading!" Wally laughed, and Robin joined him.

"Why did the blonde got fired from the M&M factory? . . . For throwing out the W's!" Wally laughed harder. "A-and how'd she get fired from the banana factory?"

"How?" Robin grinned.

"For throwing out all the bent ones!" this earned more laughs from the ninja. "Hey, hey; how'd she get fired from the grenade and the match factory?"

"SHUT UP WALLY!" Artemis exclaimed.

The speedster laughed, "Because she kept testing all of the products!"

Artemis turned up the volume on the TV.

Robin chuckled, "Why can't blondes put in light bulbs?"

"OHH, not you too!" Artemis cried in exasperation.

Robin chuckled, "They keep breaking them with the hammers." Artemis took a deep breath to calm herself. Robin grinned evilly, "What did the blonde say to the physicist?"

"GRAGH! I don't know and I don't care! Stop-"

Robin laughed and cut her off with the punch line said in a very girly voice; " '_Why, I just love nuclear fission! What do you use for bait?_' "

"UGH!" Artemis stormed out of the room.

Wally grinned at Robin and dashed after her, "Hey, Artemis? How do you make a blonde's eyes light up?"

"SHUT IT BAYWATCH!"

"You shine a flashlight in her ear!"

Artemis stormed into the training room to wait for Black Canary.

Wally followed, "How do blonde brain cells die? . . . Alone!" Artemis sent a roundhouse kick towards the speedster's face but he ducked, laughing. "Why did the blonde get so excited after she finished her jigsaw puzzle in only 6 months?" he asked laughingly.

"BUZZ OFF!"

"Because on the box it said From 2-4 years!"

"RARR!" she lunged at him and he dodged and dashed away. She watched him run before turning around and almost bumped into Robin.

"Did you hear about the blonde that went to library and checked out a book called 'How to Hug'?" The little ninja asked with a grin. Artemis scowled at him. "When she got back to the dorm she found out it was volume seven of the encyclopedia!"

Artemis shoved him aside with a growl and stormed into the training room. Robin laughed and disappeared.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Hey Artemis, What is it called when a blonde blows in another blonde's ear?" Wally called into the training room. "A data transfer!" Artemis glared over her shoulder at him before turning back to the boxing bag.

"When is it legal to shoot a blonde in the head?" Artemis's eyes narrowed angrily and she punched the boxing bag. "When you have a tire pump to reinflate it!"

Artemis growled and her face turned red.

"How do you change a blonde's mind? . . . You blow in her ear!"

Artemis growled again, sounding more like Superboy than herself.

"What do a blond and a beer bottle have in common?" Artemis looked ready to explode. "They're both empty from the neck up!"

"Grrrrr!" Artemis punched the boxing bag again gritting her teeth angrily.

"Heh, heh, heh, how do you measure a blonde's intelligence? . . . Stick a tire pressure gauge in her ear!" Wally didn't stick around to see the face that matched the furious screech that echoed through the room.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

_Recognised; Black Canary: 1-3_. _Red Arrow B06. _The two walked into the cave, they heard voices and followed them straight to the training room where the team was waiting.

Wally seemed to be enjoying himself telling stupid jokes to Artemis. The same could not be said for the angry archer. "What do you call a fly buzzing inside a blonde's head?" he asked laughingly "A Space Invader!" Wally hooted with laughter. Roy laughed as well, Black Canary looked slightly confused.

"What do you call a brunette with a blonde on either side?" Wally asked,

"Wally . . ." Artemis warned

"An interpreter!" Wally and Roy laughed again, Artemis kicked the speedster and sent a death-glare towards the older archer.

"OK, training time!" Black Canary interrupted.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis dodged Wally's swipe and sent a few punches his way; he'd improved, she'd give him that. But the blonde jokes were starting to get on her nerves; and she was on the verge of beating the laughter out of the redhead speedster.

"What do you do when a blonde throws a hand grenade at you?" Wally asked, grinning evilly as Artemis growled and swiped at him; he dodged, "Pull the pin and throw it back!"  
Artemis sent a few quick punches in his direction but he parried them all; _he must be using his powers_. She thought.

"What do you do when a blonde throws a pin at you?"

Artemis growled.

"Run! She's got a hand grenade in her mouth!" Wally hooted with laugher; it was cut off by a quick kick to his gut. He grabbed his stomach and fell to the ground; winded. _FAIL: Kid Flash –4 _

Artemis stood over him gloatingly before helping him up.

He caught his breath; but he no longer had the retarded grin on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, and took a deep breath instead. Artemis smiled to herself; she must have cured him of his blonde-joke syndrome.

Wally opened his mouth again, "How do you hit a blonde so she will never know it?"

Artemis's face turned red; Wally's stupid grin was back, and so was his breath, apparently.

"With a thought!" He laughed like a maniac, and she kicked him again.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Black Canary left but Roy stayed behind. He looked over at Artemis slyly. "Why do blondes drive BMWs?" She glared at him, "Because they can spell it!"

Artemis growled and crossed her arms, "Shut up with the blonde jokes!"

Roy ignored her, grinning wickedly and glancing at Wally slyly, "What is the difference between a smart blonde and Bigfoot?"

"Roy . . ." Artemis warned.

"Bigfoot has been spotted." Roy smirked, Artemis glared at him furiously, "What do you call a blonde in an institution of higher learning?" he continued, sidestepping the fist she swung at him. "A Visitor!"  
"Roy shut up!"

Roy grinned, "Fine!"

Wally stepped forward, "What do you call a blonde with half a brain?" Artemis whirled on him menacingly, "Gifted!" he bolted out of the room.

Artemis glared after him, "Why did the blonde have tire tread marks on her back?" Roy asked. Artemis turned her fiery eyes upon him; he remained undaunted and grinned wider, "From crawling across the street when the sign said 'don't walk'." Artemis lunged at him and he knocked her aside, laughing.

It was Robin's turn; "Why don't blondes make good pharmacists?"

"Shut up!" the blonde archer screeched.

"Because they can't get the bottle into the typewriter!"

Artemis turned her wrath upon the ninja, Roy picked up where he'd left off; "Why don't blondes call 911 in an emergency?" Artemis jumped on the older archer and a fight began.

Robin delivered the punch line; "Because they can't find the number 11 on the telephone buttons!"

Roy and Robin both laughed, Wally returned and joined in. "What do you call a blonde in a tree with a brief case?" Artemis lunged at him, he dodged "A Branch Manager!" She swiped at him and he blocked.

"What do you call a smart blonde?" Roy called.

Artemis whirled around, "I am-" she began, but he cut her off.

"A golden retriever!"

Artemis attacked Roy, Wally laughed; "Hey Artemis; did you hear about the blonde who shot an arrow into the air?"

She whirled on him, "Wallace West! If you dare-"

"She missed!"

Artemis screeched and he fled down the hall, the furious archer hot on his heels.

Roy and Robin watched in amusement. Robin turned to Roy; "What does a blonde say when you ask her if her blinker is on?" Roy shrugged. "It's on. It's off. It's on. It's off. It's on. It's off."

Roy chuckled, "What do you get when you offer a blonde a penny for her thoughts?"

"Dunno, what?" Robin asked, grinning.

"Change."

Robin laughed, and smirked, "What do you call a dumb blonde behind a steering wheel?"

"What?"

"An Airbag!"

Roy hooted with laugher: "OK, what goes vroom, screech, vroom, screech, vroom, screech?"

Robin thought for a minuted, "I don't know."

"A blonde going through a flashing red light!" it was Robin's turn to hoot with laughter.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally walked back into the kitchen and handed Miss Martian a piece of paper, PLEASE TURN OVER. It read. M'gann turned it over. PLEASE TURN OVER. She turned it over again; PLEASE TURN OVER, and again, and again, and again.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The two boys decided to find Wally and rescue him from the clutches of the maddened blonde archer. They couldn't find them, and surprisingly enough; there wasn't any screaming echoing around the place which meant that Artemis hadn't caught the speedster yet.

Roy and Robin walked into the kitchen and found Miss Martian sitting on the bench turning a piece of paper over and over again. They exchanged a look and grinned, "Hey, Miss M! Why can't a blonde make ice cubes?"

M'gann looked up, "Uh, I don't know."

"She lost the recipe!"

Miss Martian looked confused, "I don't get it; don't you only need to freeze water to get ice-cubes?"

Roy looked at Robin funny, just then Wally walked in; laughing. He looked over at M'gann, "Hey beautiful, what's the Blonde's cheer?"

"I don't know . . ."

"I'm blonde, I'm blonde, I'm B.L.O.N . . . ah, oh well . . . I'm blonde, I'm blonde, yea, yea, yea..." Wally sang.

Robin and Roy laughed, Miss Martian stared before returning to flipping the piece of paper over and over again..

Artemis walked in. Wally scooted around the bench so that there was it and Robin and Roy between him and the archer. "Why do blondes like lightning?" He asked, "Because they think someone is taking their picture!"

Artemis glared at him.

Wally grinned and grabbed a box of cookies out of the pantry, "Why did the blonde tip-toe past the medicine cabinet?" he asked through a mouthful.

"Wally, shut up!" Artemis warned.

Wally grinned and swallowed, "So she wouldn't wake up the sleeping pills!"

Robin burst out laughing, "That's a good one!"

Artemis glared at the ninja but he ignored her and kept laughing.

"What do you call a blonde between two brunettes?" Roy asked, grinning wickedly at Artemis's glare. "A mental block."

"ROY! SHUT UP!" Artemis screeched. Robin opened his mouth, "ALL OF YOU!" Artemis shouted at him.

Wally grinned, "What do you call 10 blondes standing ear to ear?"

"WALLACE WEST, SO HELP ME . . ."

"A wind tunnel!" he laughed. Artemis lunged at him, he dodged. "What do you call 15 blondes in a circle?"

Miss Martian shrugged and went back to turning the paper over, Artemis jumped at Wally again. "A dope ring!" he dashed out of the room.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally quickly got Artemis off his tail and zipped back into his favourite room in the whole cave; the kitchen. Miss Martian was _still_ turning the paper over and over.

"Hey gorgeous! Why don't blondes double recipes?" Wally asked.

"I don't know, why?" Miss Martian asked.

"Because the oven doesn't go to 700 degrees!" Wally laughed. Miss Martian turned her paper over and over again. "OK, here's another one! What is the blonde doing when she holds her hands tightly over her ears?"

"I don't know."

"Trying to hold on to a thought!"

"B- but that doesn't work . . ." Miss Martian said confusedly, looking thoughtful for a moment before going back to turning over the paper.

Wally rolled his eyes, Robin walked into the room; Wally grinned. "How does a blonde try to kill a fish?"

"How?" Miss Martian asked, putting down the paper.

"She drowns it!" Wally exclaimed, and laughed. Robin laughed as well.

"I don't see how that would work." Miss Martian ventured, "I mean, don't fish live in water?"

Robin laughed, Wally grinned, "How did the blonde try to kill a bird?"

"How?" Robin and Miss Martian asked in unison.

"She threw it off a cliff!" Robin laughed. Miss Martian didn't get it; she picked up the paper again.

"Why did the blonde stare at the can of frozen orange juice for two hours?" Wally asked

Miss Martian looked up, "Ummm, I don't know."

"Because the can said "concentrate" on it!" Wally laughed.

Miss Martian thought about it for a while, before laughing; "OH! I get it! Ha, ha, ha! That's funny! But what's with the blonde?"

Wally sighed, "It's a joke, blondes are supposed to be stupid, so there's all these jokes about them being stupid!"

"OHHHH! Ha, ha, ha!

Robin turned to Wally, "How do you get a one-armed blonde out of a tree?"

"I don't know, how?" Wally asked eagerly.

"Wave to her."

Wally burst out laughing, "I should have guessed that!"

"A blonde ordered a pizza and the clerk asked if he should cut it in six or twelve pieces." Robin said, "The blonde answered: '_Six please, I could never eat eight pieces!_'!" Robin laughed.

Miss Martian didn't seem to get the joke.

Neither did Wally, "_I_ could eat twelve pieces!" he exclaimed, "I would happily eat twelve pieces!"

Artemis walked in and whacked him upside the head. "It doesn't matter how many pieces a pizza is cut into!" she exclaimed, "It's the same amount of pizza, Kid Idiot!"

The speedster glared at her unhappily.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally walked into the lounge and found Robin and Superboy sitting on the couch. "Where's Roy?" he asked.

Superboy shrugged and Robin answered, "He left ages ago. Why?"

"Oh, I just have an awesome joke to tell him!"

"What is it?"

Wally grinned, "OK, I'll tell you! Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, a dumb blonde, and a smart blonde are walking down the street when they spot a $10 bill. Who picks it up?"

"Uh, I don't know . . ."

"None of them!" Wally exclaimed, laughing, "Three don't exist, and the dumb blonde thought it was a gum wrapper!"

Robin burst out laughing. "You know, Batman's probably going to be really cranky if I start telling him blonde jokes 24/7!"

Wally laughed, "You totally should! Just to see what sort of reaction you'd get!"

Robin stared at him confusedly, "Uh, I _know_ what sort of reaction I'd get! He'd be cranky and probably be really mean in training!"

Wally shrugged, Robin frowned slightly Artemis walked into the room just as Wally announced: "Oh, I got another one!" Wally laughed and turned to the archer. "If a blonde and a brunette fall off the top of a building, which one would hit the ground first?"

Robin frowned, "Uh-"

Artemis glared, "Wally-"

"The brunette!" Wally exclaimed, "Because the blonde has to stop to ask for directions!"

Artemis growled and lunged at him, Wally zipped out of the room; laughing like a maniac.

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


	21. Ch 21 HYPER

**Author's Note: OK, this is even longer than the PRANK WAR!**

**If I do say so myself I think this is one of my best ones. Ish. OK, it depends on whether or not you like what I've done. If you don't, I'm sorry!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, or **_**anything**_** mentioned here!**

**Chapter 21: HYPER**

Robin stared after the archer and the speedster as they dashed out of the room. He frowned in slight confusion but dismissed it and went back to watching the TV, only to find that Superboy had changed the channel back to static. Robin sighed and left the room. He zeta'd home to Wayne Manor and went to bed. He didn't feel like sleeping in the cave with a crazy speedster and a furious archer.

He changed and went to bed; knowing Bruce, Alfred or his alarm would wake him up for Patrol.

Sure enough, the alarm went off a few hours later and he changed quickly and went straight to the Batcave. He and Batman drove to Central Gotham and set about stopping the crime going on.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Artemis pulled the covers up over her head to block out the sound; it still reached her ears loud and clear. "G_o to sleep! You little creep! It is way past your bedtime! May your dreams turn into NIGTMARES! And all your teddy-bears will DIE!_" Wally's voice echoed around the otherwise silent cave from his room down the hall. Miraculously, Miss Martian and Superboy were sleeping through it; either that, or doing a great job at ignoring the speedster; who'd been singing stupid songs for the last two and a half hours.

"_OHHH_, G_o to SLEEEEP! You little CREEEEP! It is WAAAYYYYY past your bedtime!_"

"Wally! Shut up!" Artemis hollered, pulling her pillow over her head to block out the sounds; it didn't work.

"_All your teddy-bears will DIE!_ Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" his freaky, high pitched evil cackle echoed through the cave.

"WALLY! STOP SINGING!"

"_Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,_" he began

"WALLY!"  
"_Go to sleepy little baby!_"

"WALLACE WEST! So help me . . !"

"_When you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little ponies!_"

"Do you want to get hurt?! Coz you're asking for it!"

"_Black's and Bays, Dapples and Greys! All the pretty little ponies!_"

"WALLY!"

"_ALLLLLLL the pretty little ponies!_"

"WALACE WEST, IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, SO HELP ME I AM GOING TO COME IN THERE AND BEAT YOU TO A PULP!"

A very girly, blood-curling scream echoed through from Wally's room, but it turned into another high pitched cackle. "Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-he-he-he-he-he-heh-heh-heh *cough*, *cough*, *cough!*" he broke off with a coughing fit but soon went back to laughing.

Artemis growled to herself and buried her head under the pillow, blocking her ears and squinting her eyes shut.

"_Hush-a-bye, don't you cry; go to sleepy little baby! When you wake, you shall have all the pretty ponies. Blacks and Bays, Dapples and Greys; all the pretty little ponies!_"

"Grargh." Artemis forced herself to ignore him, and eventually fell asleep.

"_All the pretty little ponies! All the pretty little ponies!_" the same could not be said for the speedster. Another hour or two later and he eventually sang himself to sleep.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

Robin arrived at the cave after school to find Wally skipping around like a little girl and singing at the top of his lungs; "_I know a song that gets on your nerves! Gets on your nerves, gets on your nerves! I know a song that gets on your nerves and this is how it goes! I know a song that gets on your nerves! Gets on your nerves . . ._"

"SHUT UP!" Artemis hollered from the kitchen and Wally turned and headed in that direction, singing all the louder. Fortunately for Artemis and unluckily for Robin, Wally caught sight of the ninja and headed straight to his friend; "_OH! I know a song that gets on your nerves and this is how it goes!_"

"Wally, are you feeling OK?"

"_That's all right! I'm OK! We can do it anyday! GOOOOOOOOOO Wally!_"

"Wally, what's wrong?"

"_It's a happy day! A happy day! OH what a wonderful, happy day!_"

Robin quirked an eyebrow, "I've never heard that song before."

Wally grinned, "_It's raining manna! HALLELUJAH! It's raining manna!_"

"Wally . . ?"

"_I went to a Chinese restaurant, to buy a loaf of bread-bread-bread! The lady at the counter, was standing on her head-head-head! She asked me what my name was, and this is what I said-said-said:_ . . ."

"Wally!"

"_My name is ally-ally, chicken-tally ooey-gooey BOK-BOK-BOK! Chinese checkers I love them most I eat them with my toast-toast-toast!_"

"That's not how it goes, Wally. Now what are you on!"

"_I'm on top of the WORLD!_"

"Oh man." Robin face-palmed, "Wally, what is wrong with you?"

"_I'm so pretty! I'm so pretty! I'm so gorgeous and charming that's me!_"

Artemis stormed into the room and looked at Robin furiously, "Shut . . . Him . . . UP!" she seethed.

Robin looked back at Wally, "Wally . . ."

"_See that pretty girl in the mirror there . . ._"

Robin looked at Artemis helplessly and shrugged, she turned and stormed out of the room. Robin looked over at Wally worriedly before heading to the lounge.

Wally beat him there. He found his friend skipping around Aqualad, singing; "_There is a kingdom, UNDER THE SEA! Where there's lots of things for us to see! Fun stuff to do and places to be, adventures galore for you and me!_" Aqualad looked over at Robin pleadingly, his worry evident. Wally kept singing, "_There's good fish! And BAD fish! And . . ._" he stopped and seemed to think for a moment, before; "_And one fish, two fish! Red fish, blue fish! All the pretty little fishies! ALLLL the pretty little fishies!_"

Robin sighed and shook his head. Aqualad placed a hand on Wally's shoulder, "Kid Flash, I believe you need to calm down . . ."

Wally looked up in shock, before bursting out with; "_I'm the man! I'm the man! I'm the MAN! You can't tell me what to do! I know what's best for me, not you! I'm the MAAAAANNNNNNNN!_"

Robin gave Aqualad a '_what-can-I-do?'_ look and exited the room.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

He entered the training room and found Wally already there, Artemis appeared behind Robin and stared at the speedster as he sang to Superboy.

"_Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday dear HAPPY! Happy Birthday to me!_"

"Did he just call himself, 'Happy'?" Artemis whispered, Robin just stared.

Wally heard them and turned his singing in their direction; "_This is the song that never ends; yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because: This is the song that never ends; yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever . . ._"

Artemis turned tail and ran; Wally ignored Robin and zipped after her. "_This is the song that never ends; yes it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because:_"

Robin followed them. Artemis had hid in her room and locked the door; Wally stood in the hall singing at the top of his lungs; "_There once was a man named Michael Finnegan! He had some whiskers on his chinnigan! The wind blew them off and they grew in again! Poor old Michael Finnegan, Begin again!_"

Furious screeches echoed from Artemis's room and Wally laughed maniacally and managed to sing even louder. "_There once was a man named Michael Finnegan! He had some whiskers on his chinnigan! The wind blew them off and they grew in again! Poor old Michael Finnegan, Begin again!_"

After he'd repeated that several times he returned to: "_I know a song that gets on your nerves! Gets on your nerves, gets on your nerves! I know a song that gets on your nerves and this is how it goes!_"

Robin dashed down the hall; the movement caught Wally's attention and he zipped after the ninja. "_I know a song that gets on your nerves! Gets on your nerves, gets on your nerves! I know a song that gets on your nerves and this is how it goes!_"

Robin arrived at the lounge and Wally appeared in front of him, throwing up his arms and singing "_Merry Christmas to you! Merry Christmas to you! Merry Christmas and Halloween! Merry Christmas to you!_"

Robin punched his friend in the gut and Wally doubled over. When the speedster looked up, Robin was gone.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

"_I like aeroplane jelly! Aeroplane jelly for me!_" Wally sang, skipping into the kitchen, "_I like it for dinner I like it for tea, a little each day is a good recipe!_"

M'gann looked up from her cookbook, "Hi Wally! Do you want some Raspberry Mousse?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screeched and dashed out of the room, "NO! NOT _YOUR_ COOKING! SPARE ME! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

"Heyheyhey!" Wally called, zipping into the lounge, "Didyouknowthattogetthecircum ferenceof-acircleyouneedtomultiplythed iameterbypi? Andthediameteristheradiustim estwo!" Wally exclaimed super-fast to Superboy. "Anddidyouknowthat . . ."

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

Robin walked into the lounge to find Wally jabbering to Superboy, telling him all his scientific knowledge at a mile a minute. "Anddidyouknowthat . . ."

Robin rolled his eyes and walked away. Wally appeared in front of him, "Anddid_you_knowthat-"

"Yes, Wally I know _everything_!" Robin interrupted with another eye-roll. "Did _you_ know that you're insane?"

"I'm not insane?!" Wally exclaimed, then giggled like a little girl, "_I know something you don't know! Doo-dah! Doo-dah! I know something you don't know, oh doo-dah-day!_"

Robin face-palmed.

"Didyouknow . . ."

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

"_If you're happy and you know it clap your hands. If you're happy and you know it clap your hands! If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it, if you're happy and you know it clap your hands!_" Wally sang, skipping around and clapping his hands; whenever he saw anyone he zipped over and – while still clapping his hands – would tell them all about his day at school, what he learned, and what he didn't learn but already knew.

Artemis walked into the lounge and froze when she saw Wally; he had his back to her and didn't notice her. She slowly backed out of the room. Wally spun around and zipped over to her, clapping madly. "ArtyArty!DidyouknowthatIhaveagoodfrie ndcalledDickGrayson?He'saverygoodfriend!He'sreallysmartandtopofhisclass es!IknowasecretaboutDick,buthesaidIcan'ttellanyone!SoI'mnotgoingtotellyourightnow!" he laughed and zipped away, still clapping madly.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

Robin stepped out of his room, and Wally was suddenly in front of him; "Iknowyoursecret! ButI'mnotgoingtotellanyonebecause youdon'twantmeto!"

"Thanks, Wally . . . I think-" Robin began.

Wally began laughing maniacally, and zipped away.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

Robin watched Wally from a distance; the rest of the team was giving Wally wide berth and stared at the speedster worriedly whenever he confronted them.

The good news, Robin noted, was that Wally had stopped singing, clapping and trying to drive everyone nuts. The bad news was that he was now just zipping around every which way and laughing like a lunatic nonstop.

Robin sat on his bed, switched on his earpiece radio and waited for Batman to answer. "Uh, Batman, I think there's something wrong with Kid Flash.

"Really? Why?" Batman replied, "What's so bad about a few jokes?"

"You know about that, huh? Well he's gotten worse . . ."

"What? Is he telling dirty jokes now or just _really_ lame ones?"

"Ha. Ha." Robin replied dryly, _Batman _does_ have a sense of humour!_ "No, it's worse than that."

"Well . . ?"

Robin sighed, "He's completely lost it! I would think he was high on something if he were anyone else, but this is _Kid Flash_! His metabolism burns too fast for him to be affected by drugs or sugar; especially for this long!"

"Well, what's going on? How long has he been like this?"

Robin looked towards the door in concern, Wally's high-pitched laughter echoed down the hall from the training room. "He's been zipping around like a chipmunk on coffee for the last few hours, but I first noticed he was beginning to act really weird last night, when he told me I should keep telling you jokes and see what you'd do if I drove you crazy."

"Well that sounds dangerous." Batman thought aloud.

Robin laughed dryly and humourlessly again, "He's been getting worse all day, I don't know how he managed to get through school . . ."

There was a crazy, high-pitched evil laugh and Wally zoomed into the room and slammed straight into the wall; he fell back, laughing like a maniac, with an insane grin on his face.

"What was that?" Batman demanded

"Wally." Robin whispered. "He's been laughing like a crazy clown and running into walls for the pure joy of it."

"What do you deduce?" Batman asked; there was a sound that he was gathering things together.

Robin walked over to Wally, who was lying on his back, staring unseeingly up at the ceiling and giggling; on his face was plastered a retarded grin. Robin waved his hand in front of his friend's face; nothing, Wally didn't even blink; he just kept on giggling. Robin snapped his fingers in front of Wally's eyes; still nothing. Robin tapped his friend on the forehead. "He's not responding; either that or he's doing a great job at ignoring me." He pinched Wally and the speedster giggled harder, "He seems to take joy in getting hurt, or feeling pain."

"That can't be good. Vital signs?"

"His face is almost a red as his hair, but his breathing is normal – enough. He won't stop giggling! His pulse . . ." Robin placed two fingers on Wally's neck, "Oh man. His pulse is really fast; and I mean _really_ fast!"

"I'm on my way." Batman said, and turned off his radio.

Robin looked down at Wally and his friend suddenly sat up, "BOO! Hahahahahaha! DidIscareyou?DidIscareyou?DidIdidIdidI?Huhhuhhuh?" before Robin could blink Wally pressed his face close to Robin's and stared into the ninja's eyes, "Oh! You_d_o wantmetotellpeopleyoursecret ! Youwantthemtoknowwhoyouare! Byebye!I'mgonnagotelltheotherswhatyou 'reafraidto!

Youknowyouwantthemtoknow!" He was out of the room and down the hall before Robin registered what he'd said.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

Artemis heard Wally's laughter coming towards her and she quickly slipped off the sofa and headed in the opposite direction. Wally appeared at the end of the hall ahead of her, slipped on the linoleum, skidded down the hall and landed on his bottom in front of Artemis. "OHHIARTYMISIHAVESOMETHINGIHA VETOTELLYOU!"

He said it all as one syllable and Artemis didn't understand anything but what she thought was her name. She stared at the speedster, unsure of what to do, and he started babbling on and on about something. She couldn't understand a word.

". . . AnyouknowmygoodfriendDickGra yson?" He asked, still superfast.

Artemis frowned, "Huh? What about Dick Grayson?"

"DickGraysonismyverybestfrien d! Hehasasecrethewantstotellyou butisscaredto!"

"How does this Dick Grayson _know_ me?" Artemis wondered aloud, still not interpreting what the speedster had said.

"Yougotoschooltogether!"

"Sorry, one more time? I didn't catch a word of that." Artemis said with slight exasperation, "It sounded like 'Yoogoodookoodoogedder' . . . or something like that."

But Wally didn't repeat himself, "Heandyouhe, uh . . . ummmm, ohyeah! Hehasasecret! He'sreallyRobin!"

"Wally, I still can't understand a word you're saying. Talk slower!"

"He's, uh, DickGraysonis-"

"_Slow-er_ . . ." Artemis drew out in emphasis.

"Dick Grayson is, is, is . . . Dick Grayson is . . ." He seemed to have forgotten what he was going to say, and thought for a moment.

Robin dashed into the room, his feet slipping on the linoleum. "Who waxed this stuff?" he muttered as he stopped short to regain his balance.

"He is . . . Dick Grayson is . . ." Wally was still deep in thought, and he saw Robin and exclaimed; "ROBIN!"

"Oh, hi Robin." Artemis looked at the ninja then back down at Wally, "I think there's something wrong with him . . ."

"Yeah, I figured that yesterday. He's been getting worse if you haven't noticed." Robin tried to keep from snapping at the archer but didn't quite succeed; his worry was growing with every second. "Uh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you . . ." he began,

Artemis looked like she was about to say something smart, but Wally beat her to it; "Robin, my nose is itchy." Ok, not really. He suddenly brightened, "OH! Robin, IwasgoingtotellArtymissyour-secretbutIforgotyoursecretwh atwasitagain?"

Robin appeared to think for a moment, before taking a deep breath and in his most intelligent voice replying; "Huh?"

"Wazzyersecret!" Wally exclaimed.

"Say again? I didn't catch that." Robin requested as he pulled something out of his utility belt.

"Ican'trememberyersecret! YouwantedmetotellArtymiss!"

"Keep him distracted." Robin whispered to Artemis.

"How?!" She whispered back

"Talk to him, tell him jokes or something." He held up the small vial of sleeping powder, "I'm gonna make him some cookies." He dashed into the kitchen.

"Artymiss . . ." Wally began,

"Hey Wally, why'd the chicken cross the road?"

"Ooh! I know! Don'ttellme! Iknowthis! Uhhhhhh, ummmmm, dunno; Why?"

"Um, to get to the other side . . ." Artemis said, slightly unsure of herself, but Wally bust out laughing and rolled around on the floor. "OK, umm . . . What did the dinosaur eat after he went to the dentist?"

"What?" Wally asked through his giggles.

"The dentist." Artemis replied.

Another fit of hysterical laughter.

"OK, uhh . . . A chicken and a duck were sitting beside the road–" Wally burst out laughing again, Artemis glared at him, "That wasn't the punch-line, Wally."

He screamed and put his hands up in front of his face. "NO! DON'T HIT ME!"

Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to hit you." She said slowly, "That just wasn't the funny part of the joke."

"Why'd you say it then?!" Wally demanded accusingly.

Artemis rolled her eyes again, "A chicken and a duck were sitting beside the road–" Wally burst out laughing again. "That wasn't the funny part!" Artemis exclaimed. Wally snapped his mouth shut. "OK, and the chicken turned to the duck and said; '_Whatever you do; DON'T CROSS! You'll never hear the end of it!_'!"

Wally burst out laughing again.

Robin reappeared with a plate of cookies, slipping slightly on the waxed floor. "Hey, Wally I got you some cookies." He announced.

"COOKIES!" Wally exclaimed happily, and shovelled them into his mouth. Robin watched closely, as Wally swallowed them, and his eyelids began to droop. "Ohh, oh! I just remembered!" he exclaimed, "Dick Grayson! He's, he's. . ." Wally's eyes drooped again and his voice grew quieter, "He's, he's Rrr . . . he's Rrr . . . Rrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzz . . ." Wally's eyes closed and his head fell back. Robin knelt down beside him and Batman and Co. chose that moment to appear.

_Recognised: Batman: 0-2, Flash: 0-4, Green Arrow: 0-8, Doctor James: A-4-2 Doctor Brian A-3-6_. The three heroes and the doctors arrived and Robin called them into the lounge. They rushed in but came to an abrupt stop when they saw the unconscious Wally, Green Arrow and the doctors slipped on the linoleum but managed to regain their balance quickly.

"OH NO!" Flash exclaimed and zipped over, he skidded straight past the three young heroes and had to walk back; his feet trying to slip out from underneath him with every step.

"What happened?" Batman demanded.

"We knocked him out." Artemis replied.

"ARTEMIS!" Green Arrow exclaimed angrily, stepping forward and ending up on his back.

"Not like that!" Robin exclaimed, and held up the sleeping powder, "He was getting worse, and trying to tell everyone people's secrets."

"Really?" Flash quirked an eyebrow, only no-one saw because of his suit.

"Yes." Robin replied, "He told M'gann your identity, only I don't think she understood it the way he worded it . . . he also was jabbering about all the secrets he knew to Superboy and then he was trying to tell Artemis and I 'Dick Grayson's secret'."

Batman's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, well what was so bad about before?" Flash demanded. "He couldn't have been that bad."

"He was mostly just annoying me . . ." Artemis began,

"He sang three different love songs to Superboy and proposed to Kaldur." Robin cut in. The grown ups' eyes widened, "He insulted M'gann, he threatened to tell people my secret, he's refused to eat anything all day, he's been running into walls and stuff just 'cause he can, he's been hurting himself on purpose and he repeatedly forgot what he was going to say."

"Well that sounded like a mouthful." Batman put in as he knelt down beside the speedster. Robin glared at his mentor.

Doctor James knelt down beside the hero and pulled a stethoscope out of his bag. After a minute, he announced; "OK, we need to move him to the infirmary." Flash picked up his nephew and carried him bridle-style to the infirmary, slipping every few steps. Batman, Robin, Doctor Brian and Doctor James followed. Artemis went to follow but Green Arrow put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to almost lose her balance and fall; "Actually, Artemis, I came here to take you to Star City. There's been a lot of crime recently, and though Red Arrow hates to admit it; he can't handle it all on his own."

They headed to the zeta-tubes. Artemis slipped a few times, but quickly regained her balance. Green Arrow slipped, caught himself, stepped forward and found himself staring up at the ceiling. Artemis rolled her eyes and headed off on her own; knowing he'd catch up.

**Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha **

In the infirmary the heroes watched silently as the Doctor Brian took a sample of Kid Flash's blood and left to another room to run a few tests. Doctor James checked the speedster's heartbeat, and compared it to Flash's; before shining a flashlight in Wally's eyes, ears and mouth. "Well, his heartbeat is very fast, and his eyes aren't responding properly to the light. I'm just waiting for Doctor Brian to finish his tests . . ."

"Got it here!" Doctor Brian called from the next room. The doctor dashed into that room, closely followed by Flash and Batman. Robin stayed beside Wally.

Robin ignored the loud voices in the next room, until his name was called. He stood up and walked quickly into the room. Batman led him straight to Doctor Brian's computer screen, "Look familiar?"

Robin looked at the image on the screen; a scan of Wally's blood. There was something there, something that wasn't supposed to be there. A foreigner to the blood; evidently a cause of concern, most likely _the_ cause of 'illness'. Robin frowned, "It, it looks like the one we had before; the spore that made us sick a few weeks ago . . ."

Doctor Brian tapped a few keys on his laptop and the picture disappeared and was replaced by a black screen quickly filling with green writing. "It appears to be a mutant plant spore of some kind. Some kind of . . . mutant plant spore." He finished lamely. "Frankly, I've never seen anything like this before."

"That's what the doctors said last time." Flash growled, "Can you tell us what the plant spore looks like it could do? Is it what is making him sick? Where did he get it from? How does it work? Is there a cure? Can you make a cure? . . ."

"I don't know . . ." Doctor Brian said. He hit a few more keys; and read a few pages before tapping a few more keys and reading some more. Robin watched his face intently. The doctor seemed to find something interesting, and leaned forward; frowning. "Hmmm . . ." He hit a few more keys. "James, could you test his blood sugar level for me?"

Doctor James left the room.

Doctor Brian looked very intently at the computer. "Hmmm . . ." he hit a few more buttons and swivelled around on his chair and pulled some papers out of a file in his bag. He shuffled through the papers, looked at the screen, looked back to the papers and back to the screen again before turning to Batman and Flash. "What has he eaten today?" he asked, "And when was the last time he was exposed to burning wood?"

Flash looked confused, "We recued people from an office-building fire a few days ago, he was stuck inside the building for a few minutes . . . as for the food; well, Robin said he's been refusing to eat all day . . ." He looked at Robin expectantly.

"Yesterday his appetite was normal – for him. Today, since I first saw him after school, he has refused to eat anything – except for the cookies I gave him, the ones with the knock-out powder."

"Since when did you have knock-out powder?!" Flash exclaimed.

Robin shrugged. Batman smiled to himself.

Doctor James returned, "His blood sugar level is just above normal, but dropping."

Robin frowned, "But the cookies . . . and he hasn't eaten all day and he's not moving . . . how . . ?"

Doctor James was about to answer when Doctor Brian swivelled around on his chair, "I think I know what's wrong with him." He announced.

**Author's Note: I made up the doctors and their designations; don't hate me for it. I also made up the ending of the 'Chinese restaurant' song and a bunch of the others . . . basically, if you don't know the song and you can't find it I most-likely made it up. I don't own the songs anyway, even if I made them up; it was purely for my enjoyment and yours. **

**I hope you enjoyed my now-longest chapter! Woohoo!**

**PLEEEEEASE REVIEW!**


	22. Ch 22 SLIP

**Author's Note: Do you know that horrible disease called writers block? I was quite sick with it recently, and haven't been able to think of much. **

**If this sucks, it is because I'm still a little ill.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: I donut own anything. (nomnomnomnomnomnom)**

**Chapter 22: SLIP**

"There have been several people in Central City admitted to hospitals and referred to mental institutions in the last few days since the fire; all of the people were in the fire." Doctor Brian said, tapping away at his computer, "All of them expressed similar weird behaviour, which was blamed on trauma from being in the fire. The doctors are unsure what is causing it, or how to treat it."

"That doesn't help much." Flash muttered.

Robin frowned, and peered over Doctor Brian's shoulder at the computer screen. "I thought you said you knew what was wrong with him." He complained, and resumed staring at the screen.

Robin frowned harder, "Something doesn't look right . . ."

Batman peered over his shoulder at the computer and hummed in thoughtful agreement.

"May I?" Robin asked, gesturing towards the laptop. Doctor Brian shrugged and stood. Robin slid into the chair and started tapping away at the computer. Batman watched intently over his protégé's shoulder and began to nod.

Doctor Brian peered over Robin's other shoulder and frowned, "What are you doing?"

Robin didn't reply, he hit a series of keys with a flourish and watched the information quickly fill up the screen. Robin scrolled it quickly, frowning in concentration. He suddenly stopped, "C6H12O6." He mumbled.

"Huh?" Flash asked.

"Glucose?" Doctor Brian frowned, peering over Robin's shoulder at the computer screen. "Where does it say that?"

"It doesn't." Robin stated, standing up and turning to Doctor James, "What's his blood-sugar level now?" Doctor James left the room; shouting from the other room a moment later, "It's lower than usual and dropping dramatically, I'll need to give him some glucose . . ."

"Precisely!" Robin exclaimed and dashed into the room and glanced at Wally briefly before dashing out of the infirmary and down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Batman demanded.

"I need to speak to Miss Martian!" he called over his shoulder.

**(. . . nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom . . .)**

Robin's shoes slipped as soon as he stepped into the lounge but he quickly found his balance and dashed towards the kitchen; at least he tried, but his shoes kept skidding. He quickly found if he ran without lifting his feet he could move quickly. It was like ice-skating. He made it to the kitchen and found a rather upset-looking Miss Martian vigorously stirring a cake mixture. "Hey M'gann!" Robin exclaimed, "Those cookies you made before, how much sugar did they have in them?"

Miss Martian didn't look up, but she seemed to calm down a little, "Umm . . . a lot, I think." She shrugged towards the bench where her recipe book was sitting, "The recipe's in there, two pages back."

Robin dashed over to the recipe book and flipped to the page, "Hoo-boy!" he exclaimed, "Five cups of sugar to eight cups of flour! I don't know much about baking cookies, but I'm sure that's a lot more than usual!"

"It is." Miss Martian said.

Robin dashed back to the lounge and leapt onto the slippery floor. He started sliding as soon as his shoes touched it, and he slid quickly almost the whole way to the other hall. When he slowed, he started 'skating' again.

He dashed down the hall to the infirmary; skidding to a stop when he reached the door to Wally's room. "Sugar!" he exclaimed.

Batman, Flash and Doctor Brian stared at him. Doctor James was busy injecting something into Wally's arm and didn't look up.

"It's sugar!" Robin exclaimed again. "The poison is neutralised by glucose! But it needs _heaps_ of it! That's why all the victims experienced queer behaviour! Their bodies were releasing all the stored sugar into their bloodstream; to fight against the poison! That's also why his blood sugar keeps dropping, because his body is using all the sugar!" Batman and Flash stared, the doctors nodded thoughtfully. Robin continued, "I also think that's the reason for the poison; it'll kill the victim of hypoglycemia eventually! We need to give him more sugar!" he exclaimed, "_And_ to the people in Central City Hospital as well!" he paused, and turned to Flash "It'd probably be advisable to check out that building that burnt down; the spore was probably in the wood."

Doctor Brian frowned thoughtfully, before going to check his laptop. Doctor James finished injecting Kid Flash with the glucose, then he tested the speedster's blood again. "Back to normal . . . and now it's dropping rapidly again. I think Robin's right."

Doctor Brian returned, "His theory is a good one. I think it would be safest to follow his suggestion. I'll call Central City Hospital and arrange for the victims to be given glucose."

Doctor James injected more glucose into Wally, and tested his blood again, "Uh, I think I'm going to have to put him on a drip; the sugar is just disappearing."

Doctor Brian nodded, and retrieved a drip-stand from another room. They hooked up Wally to a glucose-drip.

**(. . . nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom . . .)**

Wally recovered quickly. The next day the doctors left, and Wally went back to his room to rest. He went the short way, that didn't lead through the lounge or the kitchen.

Robin went to the lounge room and slid over to the couch. He sat there for a minute, before Artemis walked in, slipping slightly in the slippery floor. "Seriously!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "Who would wax the floor?"

Robin grinned wickedly. Artemis glared at him. He immediately lost the grin. "I didn't do it!" he exclaimed, "I just had an awesome idea . . ." Artemis slid over to the couch and he whispered in her ear. The contagious evil grin spread across her face as well. She and Robin both flipped off the sofa and 'skated' out of the room.

They both returned a few minutes later, video cameras in hand.

The two teen heroes sat on their respectable armchairs, with the cameras turned on and pointed towards the door leading into the lounge room.

Then they waited.

**(. . . nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom . . .)**

Superboy walked into the lounge and his feet skidded wildly on the slippery floor. Artemis stifled a laugh and looked down at the camera, she'd successfully recorded it. He looked utterly annoyed and walked towards the sofa, his feet slipped around crazily and he sat down in relief when he reached the sofa. He turned the TV on, and began to watch a cartoon.

Robin's eyes widened in mild shock, but he watched the cartoon along with the clone.

The time stretched on forever. When Ben Ten finished, Superboy changed the channel to the never-ending episodes of Spongebob Squarepants being played on Nickelodeon. The clone's mind was still on Ben Ten, however. "Did you ever wish to be able to change into lots of different aliens?" he asked.

Robin shook his head. "No, but I bet Wally did at one stage."

Artemis snorted, "I bet he still does."

Superboy looked thoughtful, "I wonder if there's such thing as a Gemorphonotrix in real life."

Robin face-palmed. "There is, Superboy. The Gemorphomotrix was what we were looking for in Bialya a while ago, remember? The _Omnitrix_ is Ben Ten's watch; and no, they don't exist in real life."

Superboy looked disappointed.

**(. . . nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom . . .)**

Spongebob's crazy laugh was echoing around the lounge when Artemis heard footsteps echoing down the hall towards the lounge. Artemis and Robin immediately switched on their cameras and pointed them towards the door. Aqualad walked in, slipped a little, but then walked on normally. Robin and Artemis sighed in disappointment and turned back around.

A little while later, Red Tornado's heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. Artemis and Robin grinned evilly to each other before turning around to film. The android slipped, regained his balance, slipped again and tried to step forward. He ended up on his back. Robin and Artemis both stifled bursts of laughter and continued filming.

Red Tornado turned over, tried to stand and slipped again. His metal limbs gained no traction on the slippery floor. He slipped about for quite some time, before Aqualad walked over and helped him up. The android stood, slipped again and would have fallen if Aqualad hadn't caught him. The android made a tornado and flew out of the room, convinced the teens weren't up to _too_ much mischief.

**(. . . nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom . . .)**

After hours of filming every single person who entered the lounge, Robin and Artemis put the cameras away. They went to the kitchen and found Miss Martian dishing out hotdogs. Artemis grinned. "Does Wally know you made these?"

Miss Martian shook her head furiously.

"Are you OK?" Artemis asked, concerned.

Miss Martian shook her head again.

"Wally?" Robin guessed, evidently correctly as he received a nod from the Martian girl. "Wally was sick." He explained.

"I don't care." Miss Martian sniffed, "He was mean to me."

"Well," Artemis grabbed a hotdog. "Wally can scavenge for scraps."

Robin grinned and grabbed one as well. He took a bite, and his grin suddenly widened. "Hey . . ." he cackled, "I just had an idea . . ."

**(. . . nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom . . .)**

**Please review. Tell me if you like it or if you though it sucked.**

**If you have any ideas for my story, feel free to throw them at me.**

**Again, please review!**

**And again, please review!**

**And just coz I can, again, Please Review!**

**and just to strike my point home thoroughly: REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

**Gosh, I sound like a demanding three year old!**

**heh, heh, heh.**

**nya, nya, nya.**

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	23. Ch 23 RETRIBUTION

**Author's Note: Whoa! I haven't been on my computer in like, ages!**

**I hope you like my new chappy!**

**OH the HORROR! I just realised I've almost **_**completely**_** forgotten about the teddy! HOW COULD I DO THAT?!**

**I should bring it back soon!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 23: RETRIBUTION**

Wally rolled over and sat up with a yawn. He blinked and looked around his room his slight confusion. _How'd I get in here?_ He wondered, _I thought I went home after school._ He sat up and stretched. His limbs felt heavy and his head ached dully. He stood up slowly. _Did I run into a wall or something?_ He thought for a second, then suddenly felt very cold as he remembered the events of Friday afternoon.

"Oh damn."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After half an hour of sitting around in his room, Wally finally decided to brave the team. He opened his door and stepped out into the hallway. He hit the ground hard and stared dizzily up at the ceiling. He tried to sit up but couldn't gain traction on the floor. Snickers echoed down the hall and Wally's face turned red.

Wally rolled over onto his stomach and placed his hands underneath him and slowly pushed himself of the ground. He did a successful push-up and started to bring his knees up, slipped, fell and banged his chin smartly on the floor. Wally scrambled for his footing again, but failed at his attempts to get up.

After scrambling around on the floor for a while, he stopped and sighed. A pair of feet, wearing socks only, appeared in front of him. He looked up and saw Artemis grinning down at him wickedly. "Need a hand?" she asked.

Wally bit his lip, before nodding reluctantly.

Artemis laughed. "Well, too bad!" she skated away, still laughing.

Wally scowled and struggled to sit up again.

"Good morning, Kid Flash!" Miss Martian sang, as she floated down the hall towards the downed speedster. "You look like you could use a little help."

"Yeah, some idiot waxed the floor." Wally said, as he struggled to stand up again, he fell back, but was caught by Miss Martian's telekinesis. "Thanks beautiful!" he said, as he was lifted up almost to the ceiling. Before he had a chance to be suspicious of confused, he was falling. He hit the ground hard and the air rushed from his lungs. Miss Martian flew off, and Wally lay winded on the floor staring up at the ceiling. "Well, I had that coming." He wheezed.

A few minutes later he sat up. His eyebrows shot up when he stayed upright, and he slowly moved his feet underneath himself. His shoes lost traction and he slipped back heavily, but a hand caught one of his flailing arms and Robin helped his friend to his feet. "If I were you, I'd apologise to M'gann soon, and make it sincere." Robin released his friend's arm and skated away.

Wally watched him go, before skating away himself. He grinned, _Ha! No more falling for me!_ He skated towards the kitchen.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Miss Martian wasn't in the kitchen, so Wally ate half of the contents of the fridge and peered into the pantry before skating his way to the training room.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Miss Martian and Artemis glared at Wally and Robin from their hiding place overlooking the training room. "So, the ninja and the speedster have joined forces." Miss Martian growled, glaring down at the duo.

Artemis scowled, but then smiled wickedly, "Oh well, I suppose that counts as an excuse to prank the ninja as well."

Miss Martian didn't smile, "I can't believe my awesome plan backfired like that!"

"You mean _Robin's _awesome plan, right?" Artemis corrected her, "The great idea to wax _all_ the floors so Wally would keep falling over."

"Yeah, that." Miss Martian scowled.

Artemis frowned, "Robin wouldn't think of a plan like that, then make it fail." She thought aloud, "He must have some trick up his sleeve, or another plan we don't know about."

Miss Martian continued to glare, "I want revenge on both of them now."

Artemis grinned, "Well, I suppose a little fun couldn't ruin his secret plans!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally skidded to a stop beside Robin, "I can't find Megen."

Robin gave his friend a crooked grin, "Weeeelllllll, I guess you'd better brace yourself, then." He began skating away, "Because she's out for revenge."

"WHAT?!" Wally exclaimed, "Dude! Don't leave me here!" He sped after his friend, but when he rounded the corner after Robin, the ninja was nowhere to be seen.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Miss Martian frowned, "Does that mean Robin's not on Wally's side after all?"

Artemis shrugged, looking slightly disappointed, "I guess so." she sighed.

Miss Martian's frown deepened "Does that mean we're no-longer seeking revenge on him?"

Artemis thought for a second, a sly grin spread across her face, "Nah! I reckon he's still a target."

Miss Martian grinned, "Sister, I like your thinking!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally walked into the training room and found the whole team standing around. Superboy looked up and saw him, and immediately the group dispersed. The teens vanished through the various exits of the room. Wally dashed after Miss Martian.

She had gone into camouflage mode, and was flying down the halls. He managed to spot the almost-invisible Martian and sped after her. "Megen!" he called, "M'gann!" he caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She turned visible and glared at him. "M'gann–"

She snatched her arm away, "It's _Miss Martian_ to you!" she snapped.

Wally quickly covered his shock, "Miss Martian, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said yesterday. I–"

"It was the day before." Miss Martian cut in.

"What?" the confusion was back, and Wally forgot about hiding it.

"You slept all day yesterday." Miss Martian said, "Today's Thursday."

"Oh." Wally felt his cheeks heating up. "I'm sorry, Miss Martian, for Tuesday. I really didn't mean anything that I said to annoy and insult everyone. I'm really sorry." He looked down at his feet.

Miss Martian didn't reply.

After a little while of suffering through the silence, Wally looked up. Miss Martian was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and looked down again.

Robin appeared at his side, "Smooth." He said, "Real smooth."

"Huh?" Wally whirled around, "Was that sarcasm?!" he demanded, but Robin was gone.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The team – aside from Robin, who was nowhere to be found – was giving Wally wide berth. Everyone was actively avoiding him, and whenever he entered a room whoever was already there would quickly evacuate the vicinity. Even Wolf ran away whenever he saw the speedster.

Wally skated all over the cave, and eventually found Superboy, Wolf and Aqualad. They fled as soon as they saw him, but he sped ahead of them. They came to an abrupt stop when he appeared in front of them in a hall. Superboy began to back away, and Aqualad looked around desperately for an escape.

Wolf growled.

Wally held up his hands in surrender, "Dudes, I'm sorry for Tuesday! Seriously, I didn't mean a thing I said, and I'm really sorry I freaked you out!" he looked down at his feet. "I want you to forgive me, and I want you to forget it ever happened. I can hardly remember it all anyways!"

Aqualad placed a hand on the speedsters shoulder, "All is forgiven, my friend."

Wally looked up and gave him a crooked grin.

"Yeah, me too." Superboy added, "I forgive you . . ." he punched Wally lightly and sent the speedster flying through the air and crashing into the wall. Wally looked up, stunned. ". . . now." Superboy added.

Wolf barked in amusement. Wally grinned in spite of himself.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Wally found Miss Martian and Artemis whispering to each other in the lounge room. They stopped and glared at him as soon as they detected his presence. Wally walked over.

"I came to say I'm sorry." He said, looking at Artemis, then M'gann, then fixing his sincere gaze on Artemis again. "I really am sorry I was such an idiot on Tuesday. I didn't mean it."

Miss Martian nodded.

Artemis growled, "How about on Monday?"

"What about Monday?"

Artemis glared.

Wally weighed his options: either lie, apologise and probably get pummelled later, or tell the truth and get pummelled now.

He chose the latter. "Nah, the blonde jokes were on purpose!"

He didn't see the fist coming. The next thing he knew he was staring up at the ceiling. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes he was staring up at Robin's smirking face. "So, how'd it go?" Robin asked smugly.

"Shut up." Wally growled and tried to sit up. He fell back heavily and managed to end up winded again.

Robin stared down at him impassively. "Y'know, you never apologised to me . . ."

"What for?!" Wally exclaimed.

Robin quirked an eyebrow, "Just because you didn't propose to me doesn't mean I was any less freaked out than everyone else!"

"Yeah, but you never apologised for freaking me out when you were kidnapped! And you never apologised for pranking me! And you got to knock me out! I think we're even!" Wally snapped.

"Oh. OK then." Robin slowly walked away.

Wally couldn't get up. The floor was too slippery; Wally was completely immobilised. "Grr! Oh, OK! I'm sorry!"

Robin's face was suddenly peering down at him again. "For what?" he sang cheekily.

"I'm sorry for being annoying!"

Robin frowned, "I don't want you to be sorry for being annoying!" he exclaimed, "The definition of 'Wally' is an annoying idiot!"

Wally frowned, "No its not."

Robin gave him a sarcastically over-exaggerated exasperated look, "New and Improved Version."

Wally glared at his friend but decided to let it slide. "Well, what do you want me to be sorry for?"

Robin helped his friend off the ground, "For scaring the hell out of me."

Wally hugged his friend. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

Robin pushed him away, shaking his head, "For scaring _the hell out of me_." He corrected.

Wally sighed and rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry for scaring the hell out of you."

Robin nodded in satisfaction and grinned, "I'm sorry too, for freaking you out." Wally grinned and Robin hugged him, before quickly pulling away. "Oh, I forgot! Training's in like . . ." Robin consulted his watch, "T – minus twenty four and a half seconds. Don't be late." He spun around the corner and vanished with an echoing laugh.

Wally stared after his friend in disbelief.

**Author's Note: PLEASE review! **

**It makes me happy! :)**

**And that means I'll post again soon, which makes you happy! (:**

**And if you put them together, you get a cookie! (::)**

**omnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomno mnomnomnomnomnomnomnom**

**How on earth did I manage to go, like, NINE chapters without the teddy-bear?!**


	24. Ch 24 TEAM BUILDING

**Author's Note: Guess who's back?**

**Yeah me, I know. Did you miss me? Well I'm actually not that important so here's the next chappy.**

**Someone else has returned.**

**You have two paragraphs to figure out who it is.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Chapter 24: TEAM BUILDING**

"Oh, how nice of you to join us." Black Canary exclaimed sarcastically when Wally sped into the training room. The blonde woman was tapping her foot impatiently.

Robin was leaning against the wall smugly.

_How on earth did he manage to get here before me?_ Wally exclaimed mentally. He quickly forgot about it when Black Canary pressed her face up to his. "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"

Wally nodded vigorously.

"WELL, WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"

"Uh,"

"TWO MILLION LAPS OF THE TRAINING ROOM!" Black Canary ordered, "RIGHT _NOW_!"

Wally immediately began running.

_Recognised: Black Canary 1-3_. The computer announced, and Miss Martian changed back to her normal form.

Wally stopped running and glared at the team, who were struggling not to laugh. All except Artemis, who wore a dead-straight face. "Laps? Seriously?" she said to Miss Martian.

M'gann shrugged, "I couldn't think of anything else, and at school in gym class the punishment for everything is running laps. . ."

"For goodness sake, M'gann! He's _Wally_!" Artemis exclaimed, "The third fasted man on earth! Sorry," she added, "Not a man, my bad."

"Hey!" Wally protested.

"What?!" Artemis exclaimed "After the last few days, we have the right to retribution!"

Black Canary walked into the room, "OK guys, training! Wally and Miss Martian, can you spar please."

Wally stepped onto the mat. He felt the blood drain from his face when he saw the evil grins exchanged between Artemis and M'gann. _Oh damn._

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The good news was that Miss Martian and Artemis seemed to decide they'd had a fair amount of revenge upon Wally. The bad news was that a certain vengeful archer wasn't satisfied with a 'fair amount of revenge' and was clearly still planning something for the speedster with Miss Martian.

Wally hid in the kitchen and snacked on a few cookies. He quickly proved both facts in the prior statement wrong when he finished the whole jar of cookies and realised the kitchen was the first place in the whole cave that anyone would look for him in.

Wally grabbed a packet of crackers out of the pantry and dashed to the lounge, where he settled in front of the TV and switched the channel to Spongebob. Superboy walked in, and with complete disregard for the engrossed speedster he switched to Cartoon Network and sat down in front of the screen and hummed along to the theme song of Ben Ten.

Wally grumbled, but decided against arguing with the super-powered clone. They were soon both engrossed in the action of the cartoon.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin sat on his bed and pondered. Black Canary had chosen the moral for that days training to be – of all things – '_Don't give up_'.

He thought about this, looked over at his desk of drawers and looked down at the laptop open in front of him. He sighed and went over to the drawers. He fished around in three different drawers before finding the cursed stuffed toy. He pulled it out and shut the drawers. Robin sat on his bed and logged onto his computer.

Four hours of hacking through multiple police websites, newspaper files and anything else he could find related to a certain teddy, the house he'd found it in, or the missing girl; Jillian Reagan, and he found nothing more than the information he already knew and an image of the missing girl: taken at her sixth birthday party, a few weeks before her disappearance. She was short and cute; with sparkling blue eyes, bouncy red curls and a cheeky, contagious smile. She looked vaguely familiar.

Robin found himself grinning like an idiot as he looked at the picture.

The door to his room slid open and he jumped in surprise. He quickly pushed the teddy under a pillow and turned on the screen-saver for the computer. Wally walked into the room. "Yo bro. What's up?"

"Research." Robin replied curtly.

"For an assignment?" Wally guessed.

"A school assignment would be _easier_." Robin replied.

Wally arched an eyebrow. "Ah, is Sherlock on a case?" Robin didn't reply and Wally stared at his face, "You know, if anyone else had walked in right now; they'd have a big clue to your secret identity seeing those big blue eyes of yours."

"Anyone else would have _knocked_." Robin replied, but he quickly grabbed his mask and fitted it to his face anyway.

Wally laughed, "You should have gone for the sunnies!" He motioned towards Robin's civilian outfit. Robin ignored him and Wally's bored eyes roamed around the room. They settled on the teddy-bear leg sticking out from under a pillow. "What's this?" he asked slyly, zipping forward.

Robin immediately sat back against the pillow so his friend couldn't see. "Nothing." He replied quickly, "Why are you here?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you had a ball . . . I'm bored."

"Sorry, I lost them." Robin pulled his laptop onto his knees and resumed typing away.

"All of them?" Wally couldn't hide his disappointment.

"All of them. People kept on taking them. And if I remember correctly, _you_ were the last person to have it! And I forgot to buy a new one. Why don't you buy your own?"

"I'm broke."

"Oh." Robin's voice was impassive. "Well, too bad." He leaned forward slightly and tapped away at his computer.

Wally took advantage, zipped forward and snatched the teddy out from under the pillow. "What's this?" he teased.

"Wally! Give that back!" Robin pushed his laptop off his lap. Wally laughed gleefully and dashed towards the door. Robin pulled a birdrang out of the utility belt sitting on the bed beside him and threw it. It smacked Wally's fist, causing him to drop the teddy and hold his now-very-sore hand.

Wally stared wide-eyed at the explosive device buried in the wall in front of him. "If that explodes, so help me . . ."

Robin got up, grabbed the teddy and tossed it onto the bed. Then he grabbed his birdrang and replaced it in his utility belt. "I didn't activate it. Now leave me alone."

Wally smile slyly. "How about no? Tell me what's up with you. You're acting just as weird as you were last time you had that teddy."

Robin looked down at his laptop.

"Come on!" Wally urged, "You never know when a speedster can come in handy when you're working on a case! Tell me what you're working on!"

Robin sighed, "Well, you know how Riddler broke into a jewellery store about a month ago?"

Wally nodded, "Yeah, and you and Batman caught him."

"Well, I found this teddy in the house we caught Riddler in. It was in a little girl's room." Wally nodded and Robin continued, bringing up the picture of the girl on his laptop, "This is Jillian Reagan; the owner of the teddy." He said, "She used to live in the house, and disappeared from her room three years ago."

Wally stared intently at the image on the computer screen. He looked up at Robin then back at the picture. "You have the same nose." He stated.

Robin arched an eyebrow but continued. "Well, I took the teddy, and have been trying since then to find out more about this girl – well, except for last week. I can't find anything more on her, and I don't know where her parents are, or if she has any more siblings. I know she hasn't been seen since the night she vanished."

Wally nodded thoughtfully, "Do you think she was kidnapped?"

Robin gave him a look. "Oh nah." He said sarcastically, "It was obviously an alien abduction."

Wally glared at him, "Sorry, I was just trying to help."

Robin looked away, "Sorry." he apologised, "It's just that I've come to so many dead ends . . . a kidnapping is the most obvious option, and I have nothing to go on except this teddy-bear and minimal information." He paused and looked over at Wally, ". . . And the fact that Jillian has the same nose as me."

Wally laughed. "Well, if – _when_ – I come up with some totally stupid ideas I'll let you know." He stood up, "Now, are you _sure_ you don't have any more rubber balls?"

Robin rolled his eyes, "Yes, Wally, I'm sure."

Wally pouted but walked out.

Robin went back to his research. He came to another dead end and shut his laptop with a sigh; after looking at the picture of Jillian one last time. _There is something familiar about her._ He thought, _but what?_

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Miss Martian flew into the lounge and found the whole team sitting on the sofa, staring at the blank TV screen in immense boredom. "Guys! I have a great idea!" The innocent-looking Martian girl cried excitedly. "I just found three tents! Let's camp outside tonight!"

Wally looked up excitedly, "Yeah! We can roast marshmallows!"

About an hour later, having already set up the tent he'd be sharing with Wally, Robin lay on his back in the grass, staring up at the stars.

"Wow, so beautiful." Wally murmured.

"Yeah, they're amazing aren't they?" Robin agreed.

"Huh?" Wally sounded generally confused, "What do you mean _they_? There's only one Miss Martian!"

Robin sat up. Wally was lying on his stomach, staring lazily at Miss Martian and Artemis as they set up their tent.

Wally suddenly sat up, "Oh! You were talking about both of them! You think Artemis is hot!" he leaned in close, "Don't worry, I won't tell her."

Robin whacked Wally upside the head, "No, idiot! I was talking about the _stars!_"

After roasting endless amounts of marshmallows Artemis announced they'd better hit the sack. Superboy took it a bit too seriously and began furiously whacking his sleeping bag. Robin and Kaldur calmed him down and Wally explained to him the meaning of the phrase before he and Robin went into their own tent and quickly fell asleep.

Several hours later, Robin shook Wally awake. "Oh, what it is!" Wally grumbled.

"Look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Robin hissed.

Wally rubbed his eyes and looked up at the sky. "Uh, I see millions of stars." He replied.

Robin nodded, "And what does that tell you?"

Wally pondered this for a minute, "_Well_," he began, as his mind awoke and went into full genius-mode "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.

Astrologically speaking, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.

Chronologically it appears to be a quarter-past three.

Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant.

Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow." He looked over at Robin's unimpressed face. "Why? What does it tell you?"

"Wally you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!"

Wally stared at him for a moment before a completely shocked look settled over his face. "Who would do such a thing?!" he exclaimed, "Joker? Riddler? Sportsmaster? Lex Lu-"

"No, Wally." Robin cut him off, "I think we need to focus a little closer to home."

Wally frowned in confusion, "Flash?"

Robin face palmed and shook his head slowly, he muttered something in Romanian.

Wally stared at his friend, "What?!"

Robin looked up at his friend, "This is the girls' way of getting you back!" Wally frowned in confusion. Robin threw up his hands in exasperation. "Who are the _only_ two people who didn't forgive you?"

"Oh." Wally realised, then the confused look returned, "But why would they pay back you as well?"

Robin shrugged, "Many reasons. Probably because I can be just as annoying . . . and it may have appeared that I made the original pay-back plan fail . . ."

"Original pay back plan?"

Robin looked away, "Nothing." He said quickly.

Wally glared, but decided to let it drop. He stared around and up at the sky. "Oh man. What are we gonna do? We don't have a tent!"

"We should probably go back to sleep." Robin offered.

"We don't have a tent!" Wally exclaimed.

"So?!" Robin raised his eyebrows, "You were sleeping fine before – snoring like a whoopee-cushion I might add – and you didn't realise we were tent-less until I pointed it out!"

"But . . . but, but, but . . ."

"Me, I'm gonna go sleep in a tree!" Robin picked up his sunglasses and began to walk away.

"A _tree_?!" Wally exclaimed.

Robin turned around, "What?!" he protested, "I've always wanted to sleep in a tree! And I've never been allowed to!"

"Why?" Wally snorted, snuggling deeper into his sleeping bag, "Bruce never let you?"

"Alfred." Robin corrected, "Plus the fact that none of the trees at the manor are big enough to sleep in!" With that, he turned on his heel and walked into the shadows of the forest. His voice echoed back into the clearing a moment later, "Plus, look at the upside." He said quietly, "We could totally freak out the others!"

Wally stared in the direction Robin had taken, "How?"

There was no reply.

Robin woke up the next morning quite abruptly. He just snapped awake at exactly seven o'clock. He sat up, not feeling even a little sleepy, and looked around the forest from his nest in the arm of a huge tree. His eyes settled on the teddy sitting on the branch beside him, and he jumped in surprise.

He had forgotten he was sitting on the branch of a tree until he found himself on the ground, staring up at the pale sky with his head pounding in time with his heart. _I forgot what that feels like_. He muttered mentally.

Robin studied the completely cloud-less sky for three whole minutes before rolling over and standing up he looked back at the tree he'd slept in; the teddy was sitting there smugly. He grabbed it and went back to the camp, found it empty, and headed into the cave; assuming they'd all woken up at about six. He proved himself correct when he found them all either in the kitchen or sitting on the couch.

He went to his room and changed into his civvies, threw the teddy onto the bed and put on his sunglasses before walking out into the cave. He entered the kitchen and found Artemis, wearing her Gotham Academy uniform, sitting at the bench eating a bowl of cereal. She looked at him enviously. "Don't you have to wear a uniform?" There was no hiding the jealousy in her voice.

Robin just smiled and poured milk on his cornflakes.

Artemis had turned herself so the crest of her uniform wasn't visible, and she wasn't wearing her tie. She still made haste to finish her breakfast and teleport away.

Robin simply smiled, knowing her petty attempts to hide her identity were pointless. The protégé of Batman already knew. Robin finished his breakfast, teleported to the Batcave and ran upstairs to Wayne Manor. He changed to his uniform and Alfred dropped him off to school.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Him?" Brody asked, glaring at a short freshman boy who walked through the gate.

"Nup." His friend replied, glancing at the kid before turning his gaze upon the students streaming through the gates.

"How about him, Fred?" Brody nodded towards another kid. His friend shook his head. "Her?" Brody nodded towards Barbra as she walked through the gate.

"Nah. It was a boy, a little black-haired twerp."

"Seriously?" Brody shouted, "We've been trying to find out who tripped me for two weeks now, and somehow you managed to keep that useful piece of information to yourself this whole time? How many short, black-haired, freshmen boys are there at this school?!"

Fred just shrugged.

Brody glared at him furiously and failed to notice Dick Grayson as he slipped past.

Brody and Fred went back to carefully noting every student who came through the gate.

Dick caught up with Barbra and exhaled with relief. He'd been carefully avoiding Fred and Brody since the Monday before last, when he'd tripped Brody up when the bully had been teasing Artemis.

Brody had let it slide at the time, but was now seeking revenge after being tripped every single time he went after Artemis.

Dick was thankful he didn't share any classes with the bully.

But his relief evaporated when he received a new timetable in his first lesson. The good news was he'd gotten into the advanced maths class he'd been trying to get into; which meant his Physical Education class had been moved from the end of the day to right before lunch; the same time as Barbra's PE class.

The bad news was that the girls and boys gym classes were split up, the girls were doing gymnastics outside while the boys were stuck doing basketball; and it just so happened that a certain Brody Simpson and Fredrick Miles were in that very same gym class as Dick was in now.

Dick sighed and slumped at his desk. _Oh well._ He thought,_ I'm Robin, I can survive playing basketball with a bully_. After a moment he sat up again, _though, personally I'd prefer to do gymnastics._

**The teddybear has returned!**

**Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha aha ha ha ah ah ah CHOOO ha ha ha!**

***cough* *cough* *cough***

**I know Spongebob isn't actually its own channel, but it should be; since Nickelodeon seems to screen nothing **_**but**_** our famous yellow friend. **

**It will now officially be known as the **_**Spongebob Channel**_**.**

_**Ben Ten**_** is shown on Cartoon Network, right? Apologies if it's not. **

**I do not own the tent joke. **


	25. Ch 25 SHOOT

**Author's Note: Thank you **_**Guest**_** for reviewing. Yes, I like reading – a lot – but no, sadly I haven't got my hands on the **_**Dragons in our Midst**_** series yet. I have wanted to read them for a while, though. **

**Oh man, this story is too long, I guess I'll have to get to the point sometime soon. **

**OK, here it is peoples: the next chappy! Hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 25: SHOOT**

Shouts, squeaking of sports shoes on wooden floor and the thudding of a basketball being dribbled echoed down the hall from the Gotham Academy gym. It was interrupted by a shrill blast of a whistle, "Travelling!" The gym teacher shouted, "Red ball!"

There were protestant shouts and groans, and cheering from Red Team. A tall boy with blonde hair and glasses threw in the ball and a short kid with a mop of black hair and bright blue eyes who was wearing a red identification bib over his sport shirt caught the ball and dribbled down the court. A tall boy wearing a blue bib stood in Dick's way, and put his arms out to block him. Dick spun around his defender and dashed towards the key. Another boy was in his way; tall and buff with crew-cut brown hair and a mean face, Brody Simpson lunged at Dick like he would in rugby, Dick jumped off his opponent's shoulders to gain height and slam-dunked the ball. "Yeah!" he cheered himself on, "Ninja!"

Cheers rose up from the Red Team and the teacher wrote down the score. "OK! Blue's throw in!"

Brody glared at Dick as the kid received good-natured slaps on the back from happy teammates.

Someone tapped Brody on the shoulder and he whirled around to face Fred, "What?!"

"That's the kid!" Fred exclaimed.

"The kid?"

"The little twerp who tripped you! I dunno his name, but I recognise him! It was definitely him!"

"Who? Grayson?" Brody frowned at Dick's back.

"Yeah!"

Brody's face darkened, "I have a reckoning to settle with him, an' now another. Today's the day! He's gonna pay!"

"Ha!"

Brody glared at his friend, "What?!"

"Heh, heh, heh! You made a rhyme!"

Brody glared but jogged down the court towards the goal.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Touchdown, Red!" Brody cheered, pumping his fists into the air and jumping up in triumph.

"Uh, dude?" Fred tapped his shoulder, and the rest of the Physical Education students stared, "Dude; it's called a basket, and you're on _Blue_ Team."

Brody glared. Dick gave him a funny look and laughed as he walked past. Brody kicked the younger teen behind the legs and knocked him to the ground. "There! Touchdown Red!"

Fred laughed, "Oh, I get it! Cos he fell over! And he's red! So he _touched-down_, on the ground! Oh that's funny! . . ."

Brody slapped him upside the head, "Shut up, you idiot!"

Dick got to his feet, his face burning with embarrassment, but he decided to ignore Brody. He looked over at the teacher, but Mr Johnson was talking to another student and hadn't seen the incident.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick had the ball again, he dribbled it down the court quickly; and Brody leapt out of nowhere to tackle him. Dick jumped over the bully and kept running. He was almost at the key, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over, caught the ball and froze.

His teammates immediately began shouting for the ball, Dick ignored them; there, sitting on the stands was a certain teddy-bear. He blinked, it was gone. He shook his head and dismissed it, he continued to dribble the ball.

_PEEEEEEEEP!_ Mr Johnson blew the whistle; "Double Dribble, Richard! Blue ball!"

"Huh?" Dick looked over in confusion, then realised what he'd done. "Oh, right."

He tossed the ball to the teacher, who handed it to a smirking Brody. Red team all groaned and complained, glaring at Dick angrily. Dick ignored them, but frowned at himself; _Stupid teddy! I'll turn the ball over again! Blue sure aren't gonna score because of a stupid mistake!_ Dick decided, and dashed up the court towards the Blue key.

Sure enough, Dick intercepted a pass and dashed up the court, bouncing the ball up and down rapidly and eating up the distance. Brody was racing behind him, and drawing closer to the kid; who had just reached the halfway line. Brody was close enough to grab Dick, and started to overtake him.

Dick was two yards away from the three-point line when Brody stepped in front of him, his arms spread wide, ready to snatch the ball or tackle his opponent. _Seriously!_ Dick exclaimed mentally, _This isn't a full-contact sport!_ Brody lunged at him, so he ditched the ball at the ring.

_SWOOSH! _The ball swished through the net, just as Brody lunged at Dick. The bigger boy's arms wrapped around Dick's waist and Dick was airborne for half a second before crashing to the ground noisily with Brody on top of him.

Dick gasped as the air was knocked out of his chest, and the teacher blew the whistle. _PEEEEEEP!_ "Three points Red, and foul on Brody! Get off the court!"

"Wha?!" Brody stood up and his mouth fell open in protest, "But-"

"This isn't rugby, you idiot!" a random Red Team boy shouted angrily, "Basketball is a non-contact sport!"

"Off the court, Brody!" Mr Johnson ordered, "You're out for the rest of the lesson!" he knelt down beside the groaning Dick as Brody stormed off the court, swearing. "See me at lunch, Simpson!" Mr Johnson shouted, before looking down at Dick; "You all right?"

_Is that sarcasm, the standard injury question or are you demented or something?_ Dick thought as he struggled to breathe; but he didn't say anything, just shook his head weakly.

"Can you breathe?"

Dick shook his head again, his face was going red and his shallow gasps didn't seem to bring any air into his aching lungs.

"Here," Mr Johnson sat Dick up and lifted the kid's arms up above his head. Air flowed into Dick's lungs and he panted hard; breathing deeply. Slowly the pounding in his head and the aching all over his body dulled slightly and two of the boys from Red Team helped him up.

Mr Johnson nodded at them, "James, Matthew, take Richard to the nurse."

The two boys nodded back and helped Dick out of the gym and down the hall; each of them supporting one of Dick's arms. As they headed down the hall the girls came back from their own PE class outside. "Hey, Jim!" one of the girls called, James nodded.

"Dick!" Barbra exclaimed, seeing her friend, "Dick, are you all right?!"

"Yeah . . ." Dick croaked, nodding weakly, "I just got taken out by someone who doesn't know how to play basketball."

"Who?"

Dick didn't reply.

"Who?!" Barbra pressed, her eyes flashing angrily.

"It was Brody." James said, "He thought he was playing rugby, the idiot."

Barbra growled and stormed towards the gym.

"He's been taken care of!" James shouted after her, but she ignored him.

"Brody better watch out!" Matthew whispered as they entered the nurse's office, "Barbra looked like she was ready to murder someone!"

James laughed, but broke off when he realised Matthew was dead serious. Then he started laughing again, "I'd love to see that! Brody getting taken out by a girl!"

Matt laughed as well, as the nurse led Dick into the sick bay and dismissed the two other boys. "OK, Richard, sit still." She shone a torch into one eye than the other. She took out a stethoscope and checked his heartbeat.

Dick's breathing had returned to normal, but his head still pounded. Finally the nurse finished her check-up and told him to sit still. "I'm going to call Mr Wayne, OK? Just so he knows what happened, you don't need to go home unless you're feeling really bad."

Dick nodded, "I'm OK." He assured her.

The nurse nodded and went to the phone. She returned a few minutes later. "Mr Wayne said you should be fine, to spend the rest of the day at school; if you're up to it." She informed him.

Dick slowly slid off the bed. "I'll be fine." He said quietly, "I'll go get showered and head to lunch. It's almost the end of the day; I think I'll cope."

"You sure?" the nurse sounded genuinely concerned; and she was, she was a nurse.

Dick nodded, "It's the last day of school for the week! I'll rest up on the weekend."

"Make sure you do!"

"Yes Miss." Dick headed out of the office and started down the hall.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin entered the cave and was greeted by lots of shouting and cheering on Wally's behalf. He groaned inwardly when he found the team playing a two-on-two game of basketball on the training floor; Aqualad and Miss Martian against Superboy and Artemis. Wally was sitting on a beanbag, eating popcorn and cheering through his stuffed cheeks. Seeing Robin, he jumped up and threw his arms into the air with a cheer; sending popcorn flying every which way and skittering across the floor. "YESRSH!" he shouted through the popcorn in his mouth; "Robinsh here! Now I cam play too!" He dashed over to stand beside Miss Martian and swallowed his mouthful, "I'm on M'gann and Aqualad's team, you're with Arty and Supey!"

Robin groaned and rolled his eyes; "I'd rather not . . ." the ball slammed into his chest and almost knocked him over.

"You're shooting towards the goal with the net!"

Robin coughed and looked at the miss-matched goals, "Where'd you get these from, anyway?"

Wally grinned, "We were bored! So me an' Supey an' Kaldur went to the dump and looked around. We found these, and dragged them back here! Supey carried the bigger one, and me an' Kaldur carried the other one! Now play!" he made a lunge for the ball.

Robin dodged and dribbled the ball quickly towards the goal, Wally racing along beside him, trying to snatch it away, Robin switched hands and dribbled the ball on the other side of his body. Wally zipped around to his right side and he switched back to his left hand. Robin faked, went to shoot but passed the ball to Artemis instead. She slam-dunked it. She and Robin high-fived.

Wally frowned and grabbed the ball, before beginning to dribble it towards his goal. Robin dashed ahead and was just about to bat the ball away when Artemis discretely tripped the speedster, grabbed the ball and dribbled it back towards her goal. Superboy was standing at the centre of the court, unsure what to do. Aqualad and Miss Martian rushed over to help Wally. "No!" he shouted, "Don't worry about me! Get the ball-" There was a whoop from Robin and a cheer from Artemis as she scored again. Wally growled and stood up.

He took the ball down from the baseline, and Artemis ran along beside him; he looked for someone to throw to, but Aqualad was standing beside Superboy, looking lost and unsure what to do; meanwhile Megen was trying to get past Robin but failing. Wally looked back in time to see Artemis step in front of him and slap the ball towards Robin.

The little ninja turned, caught the ball and dribbled it up the court; slam-dunking it with a whoop before Wally could recover. The speedster sighed and retrieved the ball.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

_Recognised: Batman 0-2._ Batman walked into the cave and found Artemis, Wally and Robin playing basketball together. Miss Martian was running along behind the three; attempting to join the game but unsure of the rules, Superboy and Aqualad were standing on the sidelines, talking together quietly.

It was evident that Artemis and Robin were on a team together; and thoroughly creaming Wally without pity. They would score; Wally or Miss Martian would take the ball down from the baseline and lose it to either Robin or Artemis who would quickly dribble it back down the court and score.

Batman watched for a minute before clearing his throat. "Game over." He announced.

The teens stopped playing and Robin gave Artemis a high-five. Wally glared. "Cheeters." He muttered. Robin poked his tongue at his friend.

Batman watched with mild amusement, "What was the score?"

Wally rolled his eyes, Artemis and Miss Martian turned to Kaldur and Superboy. Kaldur shrugged and looked at the clone, who shrugged as well, "I stopped scoring, Robin and Artemis won."

Wally snorted, "As if!"

Artemis snorted back, "We _creamed_ you Baywatch!"

"Aha, but no-one scored it!" Wally pointed out, "You can't prove it!"

"I can!" Robin grinned, "_I_ was scoring!"

Wally rolled his eyes again, but they widened as Robin rattled off the scores.

"I scored four three-pointers, and twelve two pointers, Artemis scored sixteen two pointers and one three pointer. You only scored twice since I arrived; but you used your superspeed, so it doesn't count. That's 71 points for us against zero points for you. 71-nil. We won, fair and square!"

The teens stared at Robin open-mouthed. Batman smiled to himself. "Frankly; I'd hardly call it _fair_, just square. Anyway; I have a mission for you."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Drop zone B." Miss Martian announced, and Artemis and Aqualad leapt into the night air over Blüdhaven. Superboy and Kid Flash had already been deployed several miles south. Miss Martian steered the Bioship hard to the southwest until she reached her and Robin's destination. She and the little ninja leapt out of the Bioship and landed silently on top of a building. They looked at each other and nodded, before Robin headed southwest and Miss Martian headed northwest.

Robin reached his post and felt Miss Martian set up the telepathic link; _"I've reached my post!"_ Her voice announced in the heads of the whole team; "_How about the rest of you?"_

Everyone was in position. They had the place surrounded.

"_Head in."_ Aqualad ordered, "_Be stealthy, and close in on him; we have confirmation he's still in the building."_

The teens slowly closed in their circle around the warehouse where the villain was located.

"_I can see the warehouse."_ Superboy informed them _"I can't see Jackal though."_

Robin crept forward and dashed through an alley, he crouched behind a bin and peeked around a corner; _"I can see the building too." _he announced mentally, _"But I can't see inside, either."_

"_Copy that!"_ Wally's voice said, _"Ditto for me, I can see the building, but not- no wait, there's a window here!" _There was a pause and his voice came back, _"I – I can see inside, but it's just an abandoned store-room. There's no-one here. I'm switching to infrared now; you should too, Supey."_

"_I can see him."_ Superboy announced, _"He's far inside the building, in a centre room; he seems to be fixing a computer . . ."_

"_Sabotaging it, most likely."_ Robin cut in.

"_Superboy, Miss Martian and I will head into the building and try to take him out."_ Aqualad ordered, _"Artemis, Robin and Kid Flash; you three keep the outside perimeter covered in case he tries to escape."_

The three teens all crept towards the building, found an opening and slipped inside. Robin, Kid Flash and Artemis stayed hidden.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Aqualad and Superboy found the room where Jackal – an insane cat-burglar and murderer – was fiddling with a computer. _"Ready? NOW!"_ They both leapt forward onto the man, but he fought them off.

"I've been expecting you!" he teased, and drew two pistols. He fired at both the heroes, but the bullets did little good. Aqualad deflected them with his water-bearer swords and they just glanced off Superboy's skin. Still, Jackalslipped past them and dashed out of the building. Miss Martian grabbed him with her telekinesis, but he turned and shot at her; she dodged but the bullet hit a can of gas, which exploded. Miss Martian screamed and collapsed in the sudden wave of heat but Superboy and Aqualad appeared behind her.

Superboy grabbed the Martian and super-jumped away from the flames while Aqualad put out the fire.

Jackal ran down an alley; heading south.

"_I'll cut him off!"_ Kid Flash exclaimed and zipped towards where Jackal was heading.

"_Artemis, you head that way too!"_ Aqualad ordered, _"Robin-"_

"_I'm on it!"_ Robin headed south as well.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Kid Flash sped into an alley and glanced around. He crept forward and heard footsteps. He looked ahead, five yards away stood Jackal with his gun pointed straight at Kid Flash. Kid Flash froze and stared down the barrel of the pistol, its metal glinting oily black in the sparse moonlight. The teen hero could only stare, his body overwhelmed with a sense of dread. Jackal's finger slowly, painstakingly, pulled the trigger.

The gunshot echoed through the alley and Kid Flash doubled over, reflexively covering his head; but he felt nothing. He stood up straight and looked down at his body. He was in one piece; Jackal had missed. _I'm alive! He missed- _The thought was interrupted by a choking sound behind him.

Kid Flash whirled around, and saw Robin.

A dark stain was slowly spreading across his team-mates chest and blood bubbled up in his mouth. Robin swayed and toppled forward.

"Robin! NO!" Kid Flash zipped over and caught his friend's limp body. The front of his tunic was soaked with blood, blood slowly dribbled out of the corner of the younger teens mouth "ROBIN!" Robin did not respond, blood was still spreading across his chest. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Jackal stepped back and melted into the shadows, leaving a sobbing and shocked Kid Flash kneeling in the alley; holding the limp Robin in his arms.

**CLIFF HANGER!**

**Sorry. **

**Just so you know; I created Jackal on the spot. I needed someone who could be bad enough to be big news,; yet he had to carry a gun; I couldn't think of anyone, so I thought: **_**Why not just a robber/murderer/thug?**_** So that's who and what he is. More later . . . possibly.**

**Goldenstripe2510 is going to hate me. **

**REVIEW!**


	26. Ch 26 DEATH

**OK, evidently I'm still alive, but probably not for long.**

**Sorry, this one's short. But here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 26: DEATH**

"Robin! No! Robin, stay alive! Don't die on me!" Wally held Robin off the cold ground and waited for the others to arrive. "C'mon Robin! Batman's coming! He'll take care of you! Miss Martian's coming too! She can help! Just _don't die_! OK?! Don't die! _Do not die_, Robin! C'mon Robin, hold on! Wake up! C'mon! Wake up, Robin, stay with me! Wake up! No, no, NO! ROBIN! Stay with me! Wake up!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Dick? Dick. Wake up my little bird." A familiar, melodic, female voice spoke softly. "Come along my dear, wake up."

Dick's eyes fluttered open and focused on the woman staring down at him. She was beautiful, with long red hair tumbling down her back and familiar sparkling blue eyes framed by thick, black lashes. She wore her Flying Grayson uniform "There you are, my little bird!" She smiled lovingly down at Dick.

"M-mama?" Dick whispered. The woman smiled wider. "Mama! Oh mama, te-am ratat!" Dick bolted upright and wrapped his arms around his mother. A tear rolled down his cheek and he clenched his eyes shut. "Oh mama, I missed you." He mumbled into her hair. Then suddenly his eyes snapped open in realisation and he pulled away. He looked down at himself; he was still wearing his uniform, his Robin uniform, but his mask and utility belt were gone. He felt his chest; there was no pain. There was no bullet hole in the fabric. He was fine.

He looked around, he was in a clearing, sitting in a patch of soft, green clover surrounded by lush green grass speckled with colourful flowers. The sky was a very vivid blue, a colour never seen in the skies of Gotham City. Trees speckled along the edges of the clearing were tall and regal, colourful birds chirped happily and their singing filled the air. "W-where am I?" Dick whispered, looking into his mother's face.

She smiled but didn't reply

"Where am I?" Dick repeated.

His mother continued to smile, "You're in the forest."

"I can see that. Where is this forest? What state am I in? What _country_ am I in?" his mother didn't reply, she just kept on smiling. Dick stared up at her wide-eyed, before glancing around again. His mask and utility belt were sitting on the grass beside him. "A-am I dreaming?" he asked.

His mother continued to smile and shook her head.

Realisation sunk in.

Dick stared into his mother's eyes and whispered, "Am I dead?"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Kid Flash sat on the couch at the cave, his elbows propped up on his knees and his face in his hands. Batman was in the hall in front of the infirmary, pacing back and forth anxiously. Seeing the Dark Knight distraught was unnerving and of no comfort at all to the distressed speedster.

Wolf jumped onto the couch and placed his huge head on Kid Flash's lap, looking up at the speedster with pale puppy-dog eyes.

Kid Flash didn't notice. After a while he got up and went to the gym and hung his boxing bag on the hook. He proceeded to attack it viciously. _If Robin dies._ He growled mentally, _I'll KILL Jackal. I don't care about Batman's rules. _He attacked the bag harder. _I'll hunt him down. There's no place on Earth where he can hide from me. Jackal will PAY!_ He sent an extra hard punch into the bag and it flew off the hook; splitting open and spilling sand all over the floor. Kid Flash glared at it, willing it to burst into flames.

He heard the door to the infirmary open and was by Batman's side in an instant. Doctor Brian stood in the doorway solemnly.

Batman looked at him expectantly, "What is it?"

The doctor didn't say anything. He just stepped backward so Batman could step through the doorway. Kid Flash went to follow but Doctor Brian held up a hand and went to close the door.

Kid Flash stared up at Batman pleadingly.

"Let him come." Batman said quietly, and Kid Flash followed him into the room.

**Author's Note: Sorry to do this to you, but here's another cliff hanger.**


	27. Ch 27 DREAM

**Author's Note: Hi, I got nothing to say, except: (in annoying flight-attendant voice) **_**please enjoy the story**_**. Also: Review! Please! I don't care if you love it or hate it or don't give a fig! Review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 27: DREAM**

Dick stared into his mother's eyes and whispered, "Am I dead?"

Dick's mother smiled and shook her head, "No Honey, you're not dead!"

Dick frowned, "B-but you, and . . . how? How can you be here, if I'm not dreaming, and I'm not dead?" his mother just smiled, "How?!" Dick insisted.

"You have been dreaming."

"What?!" No I haven't! You died! You and dad and, and . . . and everyone! And Bruce adopted me and-"

"It was all a dream, a terrible dream. A nightmare." Dick's mother insisted.

"N-no it wasn't!" Dick exclaimed, "You _did_ die! But it wasn't _all_ bad, it was mostly good! The bad part was when you died, but the rest was good! I have a new family-"

"It was all a dream."

"How?! _How_ could I have been dreaming? I remember the last six years of my life living with Bruce, and being Batman's protégé; Robin!" How can that have been a dream?

Mary Grayson just shook her head. "There's no Batman. You're not a superhero called Robin, my dear! You were _dreaming_."

"If Robin doesn't exist, how do you explain my uniform?"

Dick's mother smiled, "That is your new circus outfit, for your solo routine."

"M-my solo routine?" His mother nodded. "Then, then why do I have a mask and the utility belt?" he said as he picked them up off the ground.

"You wanted them." Was his mother's simple reply.

Dick put on the put on the mask and buckled the utility belt. He pulled a batrang out of a pouch and held it up. "How do you explain this?" His mother just smiled, "Why do you think it can do this?" he activated it and tossed it up into the air as soon as it began flashing and beeping. It fell to the ground several yards away."

Mary Grayson smiled, "Most things fall because of gravity." She said laughingly, just as it exploded.

"No, I mean why can it explode?"

Dick's mother smiled and shrugged.

"That's a batrang from my work with Batman." Dick said, standing up.

His mother shook her head gently, "No, it's not. You never worked with Batman. You were dreaming." She insisted.

"How was I dreaming?!" Dick exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

Mary Grayson smiled sweetly, "You bumped your head and fell unconscious."

"How?"

"You fell out of a tree."

Dick frowned, "Then why doesn't my head hurt? Why don't I have any bruises?"

"You were asleep for a long time."

"What? Six years?" Dick retorted mockingly, his head was beginning to pound. He felt confused, very confused. He rubbed his head. "I'll bet next thing you'll tell me is that the circus is just over that hill over there and it's ready to leave for Central City."

"It is, actually." His mother said, standing up and rushing grass off the black skirt of her Flying Grayson Uniform. She held her hand out to Dick, "You probably have slight amnesia. Come; let's go refresh your memory." Dick accepted her hand and they walked over the ridge of the hill.

Down, past the slope, spread out in a large clearing was the tents and the train of Haly's Circus. The sounds of the circus greeted Dick and his mother as they slowly descended the hill. They reached the crowded clearing and Dick looked around at the semi-familiar faces, his memories of circus-life slowly returning. A tall man with thick black hair and blue eyes just like Dick's strode over and clasped Dick's shoulders lovingly. "Hey son, how are you doing?"

Dick impulsively hugged his father, tears welling up in his eyes and threatening to spill out from behind his mask. John Grayson hugged his son back and Dick blinked back the tears.

"Come on son." Mr Grayson said as he led his son towards a tent with less people around it, "We need to finish packing up. Haly wants to be on the road to Central City in less than an hour." John pulled his son to the side and handed him a backpack. "Why are you wearing that outfit?" Dick's dad whispered, "People will realise you're Robin."

Dick stared, "Y-you mean . . ?"

"Your mother told you you'd dreamed it, didn't she? It's not the first time. Mary's been trying to stop you from crime-fighting since you started."

Dick frowned, "So, I don't have a solo routine?"

His dad shook his head, a slight smile playing on his lips. "You're not here often enough to have your own act." His father turned to leave, "Get changed."

Dick stared, "If I didn't dream before, and I'm not dreaming now . . . I can't be dead, can I?" There was no reply, his father had already left. Dick opened the backpack and found a spare change of civilian clothes. He changed quickly and dashed off to help load the train.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick found his older cousin, John, his aunt Karla and a little girl all helping load one of the cars of the train. Dick stared at their backs for a moment before stepping forward and helping. John ruffled his little cousin's hair "Hey, Dick!" he greeted cheerily, his blue eyes sparkling and his spiked black hair, shining with gel, standing stiffly against the breeze blowing through the camp.

Karla smiled in greeting. She looked just like Dick's mother, with red hair and the standard blue eyes of the Grayson family. Dick looked down at the little girl; she had red hair like Karla, cut short and curly. Her blue eyes sparkled as she gave Dick a familiar, cheeky grin.

Dick didn't smile back, he just stared at the little girl's familiar face.

"Jillian, why don't you go help Rick?" Karla said, as she picked up a bag and handed it to John, who placed it in the train-car.

Dick stared after Jillian. _That's her! It's Jillian Reagan! Does that mean she's dead as well? No, Uncle Rick isn't dead-_ Dick interrupted his own thoughts. _But uncle Rick could have died, and I didn't know! And what about Haly? Has he died, too? _Dick sat down on a crate. He felt numb, confused. He needed to know if he was hallucinating, dreaming or . . . dead.

Dick dashed after Jillian.

Uncle Rick was how Dick remembered him before the accident; the fall that took his family from him. Rick was no-longer quadriplegic. He was healthy and happy. Dick was overjoyed to see his family again. He forced his problem about life-and-death from his mind and greeted his uncle cheerily, before dashing off and helping the circus prepare to leave.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick peered into the centre ring from backstage, the excitement of the night rushing through his veins. He wore his own Flying Grayson uniform and waited excitedly for the Grayson act. Jillian was wearing her own uniform, dressed in a black skirt and red top outfit identical to Mary and Karla's, only miniaturised. Dick sat on a bench next to John. His cousin grinned, "Excited?"

Dick nodded enthusiastically, "Am I going to be part of the finale?" he asked eagerly.

John shook his head. "You're not here often enough. After tonight, you're going back to Gotham, remember? But you won't be alone." John consoled him, ruffling his cousin's messy black hair, "Jillian's too small to be part of the finale. She'll be sitting out with you."

Dick nodded, but he felt disappointed. He'd always wanted to be part of the final routine. He sighed and looked on the bright side. He had his family back. He looked up at his cousin. He hadn't realised just how much he'd missed them all, how much he'd missed being part of the circus.

"Next up, is the act you've all been waiting for!" Haly called from the centre ring, "Ladies and gentlemen! The Flying Graysons!" Dick leapt up. And followed his family into the centre ring.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

After the performance, Dick was sitting on the step leading up the Grayson car of the train. He rested his head in his hands and sighed. He was overjoyed to see his family again, and so excited that he'd joined them on the trapeze. Even though he was slightly disappointed at not being allowed to join in with the final routine, he didn't mind; he was with his family again, that was all that mattered.

But he couldn't and wouldn't accept the fact that he had died. Even with all the joy of seeing his family again, Dick found himself missing his new family; his friends, his team and his adoptive father and mentor. He missed them, and being with them, very badly.

"Dick! _Dude_! What are you _doing_?!" a familiar voice called across the grass.

Dick looked up quickly, "Wally?!" He leapt up in excitement

His friend rolled his eyes, "Man, don't act so surprised. But hurry up! Barry and my dad are about ready to leave!"

Dick frowned, "Huh?"

"Dude!" Wally zipped over and tapped him on the head with his fist. "You're coming with us, before you go back to Gotham! _Remember?_ Now hurry up and get changed and say good-bye to your family, Uncle Barry's not very patient!"

Dick dashed off. He changed quickly and threw his Robin uniform into the backpack his father had given him. He exited the train and found his family headed towards him. He quickly said goodbye and dashed off after Wally.

Wally was waiting impatiently in front of a car, tapping his foot and looking at his watch. "Took your time." he exclaimed when Dick appeared in front of him. Wally then proceeded to open the door of the car and slide in ahead of his friend. Dick hopped in beside him and shut the door.

"Hey, Dick!" Barry and Rudolph greeted him.

"Hey!" he called back as Barry started the engine and put the car in gear. "We're not driving to Gotham, are we?"

"Course not!" Wally exclaimed, "You're staying with me for the night and we're going to the cave in the morning."

Dick nodded and watched the trees pass by in a blur through the window. _Wally's here!_ He though in relief, _And so is his dad and Flash. That means I'm not dead!_ Dick sighed with relief.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin and Kid Flash arrived at the cave early the next morning. The first person Robin saw was Artemis. She skipped into the room carrying a poster board and wearing civilian clothes unlike any Robin had seen on her before. She wore a dark pink miniskirt, knee-high boots and a frilly white shirt. She spotted Robin and Kid Flash, emitted a squeal of delight and dashed over. "Yay! You're back! How was your time with Batman?"

_Seriously?_ Robin thought, _Is that the cover-story for everything?_ "Uh, fine." He replied, and his eyes widened in shock when Artemis squealed again, dropped the poster board and hugged him tightly. He looked over at Kid Flash pleadingly.

Wally rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Wal, hey, a- little help?" Robin croaked.

Wally sighed and stepped forward. He grabbed Artemis's hair and pulled her away. Her hands immediately went to her head and she tried to pull her hair from Kid Flash's grasp. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow! Lemme go!" she squealed. Wally let her go and stepped back.

Artemis immediately stepped forward and picked up the poster board before shoving it in Robin's face. "What do you think?" she asked eagerly.

Robin pushed the poster away from his face so it was at a readable distance and took in the flowers and big green letters saying: SAVE THE TREES! Robin stared. "Um, great- I guess . . ." Artemis squealed happily and hugged him tightly again. Robin choked, before slipping out of her grip and stepping back quickly. "Uh, I need to . . . ah, be somewhere , doing . . . something, um . . . important . . . see you 'round." He made a hasty exit, Wally was fast on his heels.

They halted when they reached the training room. "What's with Artemis?" Robin whispered worriedly.

"She's gone green." Wally replied, "Now everything's about saving the trees," he paused, ". . . and the flowers, and the whales, and the sharks, and the kittens and basically anything that humans can possibly destroy. I think the hero life has gotten to her.

Robin frowned, "No, I mean, why is she wearing _pink_? And why is she so _cheerful_? That's _not_ Artemis!"

Wally shrugged, "She's always like that. It's annoying, I know. But you start to ignore it after a while."

Robin frowned.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Miss Martian flew into the room, chatting away on her cell phone. She saw Wally and Robin, and went back to talking on her phone.

Robin stared at her. She was wearing a similar outfit to Artemis; one that Robin had never seen before. Robin blinked, and looked over at Wally, "Is she still the normal Miss M, or should I prepare for another shock?"

Wally was about to reply, when suddenly Miss Martian was standing right between the boys "What do you mean am I still normal?" she snapped, "Of course I'm normal! And don't you dis my sister either!"

Robin put his hands up, "I didn't say anything about Artemis!"

Miss Martian crossed her arms, "I _know_ you didn't _say_ anything! But you _thought_ it!" she pressed her face up close to his, "And don't you ever disrespect my sister again!" she whirled on Wally, "And that goes for you too!"

Aqualad chose that moment to walk lazily into the room. He wore a yellow Hawaiian shirt with pink and green flowers printed on it. "Yoooooo, babe." He said as he walked over to Miss Martian, "Chill out babe, he didn't mean anything." He put his arm around Miss Martian's shoulder and she hugged him back.

"Hiya! I missed you, how was Atlantis? You must tell me _all_ about it! Don't leave out anything!" they walked away.

Robin stared, "Uh, are those two . . . um, y'know . . ?"

"Yeah. They're going out. Have been since they met. M'gann thinks it was love at first sight."

Robin nodded numbly, "And, what about Superboy?"

"What about him?"

"Where is he, what's he like?"

Right on cue, Superboy peered around the corner into the room. Before deciding it was safe and walking in. He gave the other boys a small wave.

Robin waved back, and Superboy flinched. Robin's eyes widened behind his mask. "Uh, sorry, Superboy . . ."

Superboy looked at him, "It's Conner. Call me Conner! I'm not a Superboy!"

Robin frowned in confusion. "Wally?"

Wally sighed, "He thinks he's not worthy to call himself Super."

"Especially since I don't have the powers!" Connor added, "But that's a good thing. I would never be able to control them. And I'm _so_ glad I can't fly."

"Why?" Robin couldn't help asking.

Superboy stared at him, "Because then I'd have to be up high, and you know how badly heights freak me out!"

Robin took an involuntary step back.

Superboy saw it and looked at Robin miserably, "SEE! Even _you_ are scared of me! I have too much power! It's a curse!"

Robin stepped forward, holding up a hand "No! I'm not scared of you Su- Conner! I-"

Superboy flinched away from Robin's hand with a yelp and dashed away.

Robin stared.

Wally sighed.

"Is there anything else I should know about? That _is_ the whole team right?"

Wally sighed again and nodded. "Yep. And we got stuck with a bunch of losers while Red Arrow was accepted straight into the League.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin sat in his room with the door locked. _This isn't a dream._ He thought unhappily, _This is a nightmare._ He looked around his dark room and could think of only once condolence; _At least I'm not dead._


	28. Ch 28 TRAPPED

**Author's Note: OK, for those confused people out there: Robin finds teddy, it appears to be haunted and keeps on popping up everywhere. **

**On a mission, Robin gets shot and now he's dreaming. **

**Kapiche? (Is that even how you spell it? No matter.)**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Young Justice.**

**Chapter 28: TRAPPED**

Kid Flash looked down at the unconscious Robin lying on a bed in the infirmary. Batman peered over his shoulder and Doctor Brian stood by his side.

Robin's uniform, from the waist up, had been taken off and a bandage was wrapped around his chest. A small stain of red was visible on the fabric above the wound. Robin was hooked up to two drips; one was supplying him with blood, the other fluids. He had a clear tube going into his nose, and was hooked up to an oxygen tank. A heart monitor, on a stand beside the bed, beeped steadily.

"He's lost a lot of blood. He's now in an induced coma." Doctor Brian said, "We managed to remove the bullet, he should recover quickly. But he'll be out for a few days."

Kid Flash looked at the doctor, "Why didn't the Kevlar stop the bullet?"

Batman put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "The Kevlar saved his life." He said, "It slowed the bullet and prevented it from going too deep." He looked down at his adoptive son, so pale and vulnerable in his comatose state, and felt his stomach tighten, "Though I think it might be time we upgraded the bullet-proofing."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

_Inside Robin's Head:_

Robin lay on his bed. Ever since he was little, he'd been able to force himself awake from any nightmares he'd had. Robin closed his eyes, and tried to wake up. He focused and snapped his eyes open. He was still in his room at the cave. He found himself hoping it was just a coincidence that he was sleeping in his room at the cave. It was a small hope, and he knew he was wrong. Though it was the most vivid dream he'd ever had, it wasn't real enough to fool him. Robin knew he was still dreaming.

He pinched himself to be sure. He felt dull pressure, but no pain. He sighed.

Here he was, trapped in his own mind; stuck in an alternate reality where almost everyone he knew had changed. He exited his room and found his way to the training room.

Miss Martian was barking orders at Superboy as he moved the couch around. Kaldur was sitting on the couch, calmly eating a bowl of nachos. Artemis was sitting next to him, staring dreamily at Robin.

Robin backed away slowly. Wally appeared behind him. "Hey, how's it going?" the speedster asked cheerily.

Robin immediately ducked behind his friend and pushed him forward, using him as a shield. "I think everyone has gone insane. Either that or it's me."

Wally laughed nervously. "How about we stay away from Artemis? OK? She's freaky. And Miss Martian as well, I'm not really in the mood for a telekinetic beating."

Robin stopped pushing his friend. Artemis was still staring dreamily at him. She began to blush and looked away. Robin and Wally both stepped backwards.

Miss Martian, hearing her name, glared in their direction before resuming screeching at Superboy. Superboy meekly obeyed her orders.

Robin and Wally wilted under Miss Martian's glare and stepped back. Robin pulled his best friend around a corner. "This is a nightmare!" he exclaimed.

Wally nodded enthusiastically, "I know. You're dreaming. So, wake up."

"I can't!" Robin exclaimed, "I've tried to, but I can't! I'm trapped inside my head!" he peered around the corner at his crazy team-mates ". . . with them!" he shuddered.

Wally sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

Robin frowned, "About what?"

Wally shrugged. "It felt like the right thing to say."

Robin rolled his eyes.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin sat in the kitchen and clenched his eyes shut again. _Wake up_. He thought to himself,_ Come on, wake up. _He snapped his eyes open. Nothing. He was still asleep; stuck inside his wacked out dream. He went to find Miss Martian.

She was in the lounge, sitting on the couch with Artemis. Both were painting their nails. Artemis looked up at Robin and smiled sweetly – which completely freaked him out. Miss Martian didn't look up. "What do you want?" she snapped.

Robin faltered, "Uh, well . . . um . . ."

"Spit it out!" Miss Martian snapped, "I don't have all day."

_What's wrong with me?_ Robin asked himself, _She's in my head, I'm dreaming this! It can't go too awfully wrong, can it?_ "Well," he began, "You know how you're a telepath?"

Miss Martian gave him a look, "Duh!"

"Well, I was wondering if you could use your powers to wake me up?"

Miss Martian quirked an eyebrow, "You _are_ awake, dummy."

"No I'm not." Robin insisted, "Could you please try?"

Miss Martian sighed and went back to her nail-painting, "You're wasting my time. Get out of my sight."

Robin looked over at Artemis. She smiled sweetly at him and he wished he hadn't. He quickly retreated.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin punched the wall, hard. Nothing happened. He didn't feel it, the wall didn't break or even dent, and it didn't make a sound.

Yet somehow Wally knew and suddenly he was beside his friend. "You OK?"

"No I'm not OK!" Robin exclaimed, "I'm trapped inside my own head with a team that has gone totally bonkers!"

Wally quirked an eyebrow, "Well, it is your own mind. You don't _have_ to do anything in particular. Why don't you go and do your own thing? Have your own adventure! Isn't that what dreams are for?"

Robin considered this. He nodded. "Let's go."

"Both of us?"

Robin punched his friend on the shoulder. "I'm dreaming it all after all, the others won't miss you." Wally grinned and the pair dashed towards the teleporters.

Aqualad was wandering through the halls, sipping a soda through a straw when the two went past. "Yo, duuuuuuuuuuuudes!" he greeted them, "S'up, homies?"

"The roof." Wally replied automatically as they rushed past.

"Sweeeeeeeeet." Aqualad replied, before taking long sip of his soda. "See yas lateeeeeeeeer."

"Bye!" Robin called over his shoulder.

Miss Martian and Artemis were still sitting on the couch painting their nails. Neither noticed when the boys dashed past.

Superboy yelped in surprise when the speedster dashed past, and jumped again when Robin skidded around the corner. Superboy hid around the corner and timidly watched them go.

Wally and Robin reached the Zeta tubes and quickly teleported away.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin skid his motorbike to a stop and Kid Flash slid to a halt beside him. Gotham City seemed peaceful enough, there were no sirens or flashing lights, no fires or break-ins being reported through the police-scanner Robin had playing into his earpiece.

"Batman seems to have everything under control." Robin said.

Wally nodded in agreement. "How about we try Metropolis?"

Robin shook his head, "Nah . . . Superman should have things going smoothly."

"Central City?" Kid Flash suggested.

Robin shrugged, "Worth a shot."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Robin sighed. It might have been his dream, but he had no control over it whatsoever. He couldn't imagine anything into, or _out_ of, the reality his subconscious created. And at that particular moment, the reality really, _really_ sucked.

Captain Cold, Abra Kadabra, Riddler, Joker, Poison Ivy, Atomic Scull and several other villains who were yet to be identified had all joined together to wreak havoc on Central City. And Haly's Circus was the centre of it all.

Robin and Kid Flash stared through the smoke-filled air at the chaos before them. People were running in all directions, screaming in panic, buildings were on fire and collapsing, gunfire was echoing around and maniacal laughter filled the air.

The two heroes exchanged glances. Robin sighed, "And now we know why Gotham was so peaceful." He revved his motorbike's engine, "Man, I hate this dream."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Kid Flash added another gangster to the pile of troublesome people he'd already knocked out. "You're right Rob, this really does suck." He sped off to confiscate the guns from yet _another_ gang of warring teens. "Maybe next time we should just get ice-cream."

Robin grunted in reply and knocked out masked villain who'd confronted him. He turned to face his next enemy and was rewarded with a punch in the face. "Too slow!" Joker taunted.

Kid Flash dodged the blast of ice from Captain Cold before zipping past and stealing his gun. "You know," He continued to Robin, "The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of ice-cream. Next time we're getting ice-cream, OK?"

"OK." Robin managed to grunt as he struggled out of the choke hold he'd been caught in.

"I'm thinking triple scoops of strawberry with chocolate sauce, and nuts, and berries and banana with a Flake and maybe several wafers." Kid Flash continued as he sped past Robin on his way between the unconscious Cold and Poison Ivy.

Robin knocked out the Joker and rolled away from beam of energy Atomic Skull shot at him. "Sure thing." He muttered.

"Ooh! We could have sherbet on them as well!" Kid Flash continued, without missing a beat. He finished off Ivy, bopped Abra Kadabra over the head on his way past and slammed into the Riddler. "I _love_ sherbet on ice-cream! It's the best! Oh, and marshmallows! And Skittles, and . . ."

"Well, that's one hellava ice-cream." Robin muttered, before shouting in pain as Atomic Skull's next energy blast hit him full-on, sending him flying. He crashed into the wall of a building and fell to the floor with another cry of pain. "Ow!" he complained loudly as he crawled to his feet, "I can't believe I actually felt that!"

"Maybe you're waking up?" Kid Flash suggested as he 'took care of' Atomic Skull. "That'd be great if you were, this is probably the most un-fun time I've had since Artemis conned me into helping her campaign against killing cows, I mean seriously! I love my cow-meat! Burgers are the best . . . aside from ice-cream. Speaking of which, we should have jellybeans and Smarties on ice-cream, as well as Kiwifruit! You can't have ice-cream without Kiwifruit! Or gumballs! Or . . ."

Robin sighed as he knocked two gangsters' heads together. "Shut up, KF! You're making me hungry!"

"So you're feeling hungry as well! Bonus! You _must_ be waking up! Have you ever had Malteesers on ice-cream? I've also heard that peaches taste great, and maybe apricots! Or maybe . . ." all the while he was talking, Kid Flash was zipping back and forth, round and round, and knocking out any thug that appeared within his line of vision.

Robin was tempted to just sit down and let him take care of anything, when he heard more screaming and sighed. "I'm going this way!" he hollered and dashed towards the source of the sound: the Big Top.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"NO!" the cry burst from Robin's lips and he found himself frozen in horror, staring at the scene of his worst nightmares. The crumpled forms of his family lay across the centre-ring of the Big Top, broken, crumpled, lifeless . . . dead. The horror of the memory was doubled as Robin found himself re-living that moment, the worst in his young life by far.

He found himself in his eight-year-old body, wearing his Flying Grayson uniform, staring helplessly at his dead family. Suddenly time skipped backwards, and he was watching them fall and crash into the ground. "NOOO!" he wailed again as the scene replayed itself, over and over again.

He fell to his knees, sobbing, "No, no, no nononononono . . ."

He heard someone laugh. They _laughed_! How could they laugh?! His family lay dead on the ground and they were _laughing_! Murderous rage pushed all the misery aside as Robin whirled around towards the sound. _Zucco_, he thought, _I'll kill him! He killed my family and _laughed_! I'll kill him, I swear_ . . . Robin froze as he found himself transfixed in Jackal's insane, murderous gaze.

His fury melted away as he saw the gun in Jackal's hand. The gun that was level with Robin's chest.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Jackal laughed again, it was a humourless, evil sound that sent a wave of terror through Robin's body. The finger pulled the trigger and the bulled sped towards Robin as before. He felt the small piece of metal rip through his Kevlar shirt and his skin and muscle. His cry caught in his throat as his hands reflexively clutched at the hole in his chest. He slowly fell forward and crashed to the ground. The cold, hard, merciless ground.

The same ground that killed his parents.

He heard Kid Flash's cry as his friend's arms wrapped around him. Then he heard nothing. He could Kid Flash's face through a thick fog, rimmed with an impenetrable black. His vision slowly darkened and he felt himself slipping away.

But the pain remained.

And then Robin's eyes were snapping open and he gasped in a welcome lungful of air. His chest hurt like the devil and his head pounded insistently, which dawned on him to be a good thing. _I'm awake! I must be awake!_ He pinched himself to be sure and couldn't help a smile breaking across his face as he realised that he had finally managed to wake up.

"Robin!" Kid Flash's arms were crushing him in a hug before he even registered his friend's presence. "Thank God you're OK!"

Robin yelped in pain, "Ow! Dude, my chest-"

Kid Flash immediately let him go, "Omigod! Dude, I'msorryIdidn'tmeanto-"

His hurried apology was cut off as Batman and the doctor burst into the room. Bruce was immediately by Robin's side and the doctor was immediately by Kid Flash's, scolding him severely for harming his patient.

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked quietly as he gently pushed Robin back to he was lying down against the pillows.

Robin smiled weakly. "I'm glad to be awake." Robin replied truthfully, "My chest hurts, and my head feels like someone let a couple of angry bulls loose in it . . ." He trailed off. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Two days. It's Monday today, almost time for lunch." Bruce replied.

Robin nodded weakly, "Thanks for staying Wally." He said to his friend.

Wally cut off his argument with the doctor mid-sentence and he turned to Robin as the doctor left the room, convinced his patient was fine. "Dude, that's what friends are for; they couldn't have _paid_ me to leave!"

Robin smiled wearily. Bruce looked down at him in fatherly concern, "You should rest."

Robin looked appalled at the suggestion, "No thanks, I had a pretty horrible dream." Of course, Wally had to know what it was about. Robin gave him a weak smile, "Well, for starters Connor was a fraidy-cat, M'gann was bossy, Kaldur was a hippie and Artemis was a preppy."

Wally looked horrified, "How awful."

"You don't know the half of it." But despite Robin's protests, he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He suddenly noticed there was something pressed against his side, something soft. He opened his eyes and looked over at a certain teddy. "OK, how did that get there?"

Bruce looked at it, "Alfred made my find it."

Robin frowned as he lay back again, "Alfred?"

Bruce nodded, "Alfred is convinced that you must like it a lot if you pulled it out of hiding all of a sudden not so long ago."

"Wait, so _Alfred's_ the one who's been moving it around?" Robin asked in astonishment.

Bruce nodded again, "I'm not going to judge you . . . much. I _do_ think you're a little old to have a teddy."

Robin stared up at the roof. The only thing he could think to say was "Oh."

_And I call myself a detective. It was Alfred all along, he thought it was mine_ . . . "It's not mine, Bruce." He said, "It's a clue." _A clue that I was starting to think was haunted_ . . .

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

That afternoon, Robin and Wally sat on the sofa staring at the TV screen which displayed nothing but the ever-present 'No Signal' sign.

The team had shown up at the cave to greet Robin before they each went off with their respective mentors, all except Robin who was still recovering, and Wally who had been given the day off to stay with his best friend.

Robin had just finished explaining the details of his dream to his attentive friend. Wally nodded. "Sounds pretty bad."

Robin nodded, "Yeah, I'm just glad that I'm finally awake, I swear I lived at least a week at the cave with that wacked-out version of the team."

Wally nodded, and they sat in silence for a while, before he proclaimed loudly: "I'm bored."

Robin looked at him sideways, "Do you want to get ice-cream?"


	29. Ch 29 ANSWERS!

**Author's Note: Back again, this story's not over yet!**

**But . . . this is the second-last chapter. It's almost done! **_**Finally**_**! Personally, I think I got too carried away and made this **_**way**_** too long!**

**I am truly sorry if its daunting length scared any of you away!**

**So here it is, chappy **_**29**_**!**

***phew!* XP**

**Disclaimer: I **_**still**_** don't own Young Justice. **

**Chapter 29: ANSWERS**

Wally received permission to spend the afternoon and the night with Dick. Bruce went with them as they teleported back to the Batcave at about three o'clock. It didn't take long to convince Bruce to allow them to go down-town, the argument was basically won as soon as Dick pointed out that it was _Robin_ who had been shot, and _Dick Grayson_ was supposed to be fine.

Bruce relented, and gave them permission.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"No, Wally, you're not getting jalapenos to put on your ice-cream." Dick sighed, then quickly added to the list of 'nos' before his friend could suggest any more disgusting foods. "We're not buying the sardines either, and if you _have_ to have tomato sauce I'm sure we've already got some in our pantry!"

Wally sighed, "Fine . . ."

Dick looked at him in slight exasperation, "We probably have sardines as well if you must know. Now I think we've got enough, let's go."

After they had been dropped down-town by Alfred, Dick and Wally had visited several ice-creameries before deciding it would be heaps better if they just bought ice-cream and toppings from the super-market and made their own.

Wally peered over Dick's shoulder at the list he had. "Where did you get this from, anyway?"

"You told me, in my dream. I figured it couldn't be _too_ far-fetched."

"You know me very well." Wally admitted, then added, "But obviously not well enough! Anyone should know that you can't _only_ have strawberry ice-cream! You have to _at least_ have chocolate and vanilla as well. Honeycomb and mint too. And I find it appalling to think the me in your dream only wanted chocolate topping. You _have_ to have caramel and strawberry or all's lost!"

Dick sighed. "If you say so." Wally grinned and added these items to the cart.

"I'm glad you thought of kiwifruit, though! You can't have ice-cream without kiwifruit!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

The boys took their food into the huge dining room and spread it all out on the giant table. Alfred looked on in mild disapproval, before declining their offer to make his own ice-cream and exiting the room to find something to do elsewhere.

Bruce, however, seemed more-than-happy to join them in making the ultimate sundae. Armed with giant bowls, multiple spoons of various sizes and tongs to serve the lollies, the three of them attacked the ice-cream and lollies.

Bruce and Dick each had super-sized soup-bowls. Wally on the other hand had a mixing bowl that Alfred preferred to use when he was baking for large quantities of people.

During the procedure of devouring their creations, Bruce paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth to point out to the boys that, "If you two stay up all night on a sugar high, I swear it will be the last thing you do."

"Don't worry," Dick replied, cheekily, "We'll be staying up all right. Just not on a sugar-high." He looked sideways at Wally who was literally _shovelling_ the ice-cream into his mouth, "We'll be going into town again to wrap up a mystery."

Bruce looked like he was about to protest, but Wally interrupted him, "Dohwt wowwy," he assured him through a mouthful of ice-cream, "We wiw be bahk befowr shkool. Amd we wowt geh im twouble."

Bruce didn't look too happy about that.

Dick glared at his friend, "We'll stay out of trouble." He said, "Besides, you'll be on patrol and we'll be in uniform so if there is a problem we'll just find you."

Bruce still didn't look too happy about the idea, "And what if you can't get to me? Or if you can't find me?"

"Oh, puh-leez!" Wally exclaimed after he'd swallowed his mouthful, "It's not like you're dressed up like a giant _bat_ or anything. And I'm a speedster! If it comes to it, I can simply pick him up and run away! We'd be back here before the baddies even realised we were gone!"

Bruce sighed. "Fine." He finished his sundae and stood up, "But no getting shot this time. In fact," he paused for effect, pretending to think, "In fact, I don't want you to confront anyone. Stay out of trouble, and if you _must_ beat someone up, please make sure I know about it."

Wally grinned at him around the ice-cream he'd just stuffed into his mouth. "Shoowr fing!"

Dick rolled his eyes. "We won't get in trouble. We can take care of ourselves!"

Bruce sighed, "Yeah. Take care of yourselves. That's how you ended up getting shot."

Dick glared at him, "Quit worrying. Anyway, you get shot at all the time."

"Yeah, well . . ." Bruce paused, then sighed, "Ah, whatever! Just don't die, OK?"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"What exactly are you expecting to find? Didn't this kid go missing, like, three years ago?" Kid Flash hissed.

Robin shrugged, "I don't know what we're looking for, anything really. I want answers and this is the only place where I can find them."

"There's nothing here." Kid Flash said, as he peered into an empty room. He sneezed, "Except lots of dust."

Robin frowned, "Hm. That's funny, I didn't remember there being heaps of dust in the room when I fought Riddler . . ." he dashed up the stairs to the third floor with Kid Flash hot on his heels. He stopped in the doorway to the room. It was just how he remembered it: cream carpet, pink rug, pink curtains, four-poster bed with frilly sheets and piles of cushions. Robin threw the teddy-bear onto the centre of the rug to complete the image.

He walked over to the bed and looked closely at the blankets. "KF, look at this." Kid Flash zipped over.

"Look at what?"

"It's clean. It's been months since I was here last, yet there's no dust anywhere, the pillows are clean and fluffy and the sheets and crisp and new. Someone's been here."

Kid Flash frowned. "OK, but who?"

Robin grinned at him "Excellent question."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

"Now I know why Supey hates stakeouts so much." Kid Flash muttered.

"Oh, shut up." Robin muttered, "It's not even six o'clock yet."

"Well, when do you think he'll show up?" Kid Flash exclaimed, "Assuming he shows up." He added.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Someone is obviously caring for this place, and they're doing it well. To keep a place clean like that you'd have to clean it often. Every few days at least. And if I was someone obsessed with cleaning a room belonging to a missing girl, I would clean it every day."

"Yeah?" Kid Flash muttered, "When?"

"Either early in the evening – like now, or late at night, or early in the morning."

Kid Flash sighed, "So, basically, we're going to be here all night?"

Robin grinned at him, "What are you complaining about? You're overloaded on sugar, so either you'll stay awake all night happily, or you'll fall asleep and then you'll be awake for your maths class tomorrow."

Kid Flash groaned, "The problem is that I'm overloaded with sugar! I'm full of energy and stuck on a roof with nothing to do!"

"Not for much longer." Robin hissed, "Look!" he pointed down at a lone figure who strode down the deserted street, looking over their shoulder every now and then.

"Well, he seems nervous."

"Assuming he's a _he_." Robin hissed, "Now shut up and watch."

The person reached to door to the mansion and looked both ways somewhat nervously before inserting a key into the lock and pushing open the door. Robin and Kid Flash slipped quietly over the edge of the roof and dropped down onto the roof below them, that cut out from the wall below the window to the little girl's room, forming a balcony which the boys sat on, pressed against the wall on either side of the open window.

"You do realise that if they lock the window we'll be trapped out here, right?" Wally whispered.

"Yes I thought of that. But A: I'm sure they won't shut the window, they haven't so far. And B: if they _did_, we could either get down via grappling hook, or climbing."

Wally shrugged, "I'd prefer the grappling hook."

"Ditto, my chest still hurts. Now shut up! They're coming!"

The person entered the room and looked around. Robin peered through the window once they turned on the light, knowing that they wouldn't be able to see well into the darkness outside while the room was lit.

The person was wearing a hooded trench-coat with their face in the shadow of the hood. Their eyes rested on the teddy on the floor and they bent over to pick it up. They scowled at it, muttered angrily and threw it against the wall. The hood fell back and Robin's eyes widened behind his mask.

He pressed himself against the wall and looked over at Kid Flash, who looked confused. _What?_ He mouthed.

Robin signalled for him to follow as he made his way quickly but quietly back up the roof till they were safely out of earshot of the occupant of the room. Robin pressed his finger to his ear and radioed Batman. "Hi, um, Bats. We've got a bit of a problem. No, we haven't confronted anybody, but you might want to. We're at the mansion, and, well, Riddler's shown up."

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Riddler was raving. He was furious. "Rarh! I can't believe it failed! I'd laid that fake trail so well, but he didn't even find it! What sort of detective is he?! And now the teddy's back! He's given up on the mystery and now the plan's ruined!" Riddler kicked the teddy across the room before resuming his mutterings. "What went wrong? I had it all planned out, but he didn't find the next clue! The first few traps were sprung, but the next ones . . . nothing! They didn't even show! That team of sidekicks is still there, and none of them are even dead yet! What's the fun in that?"

Robin and Wally exchanged glances.

Riddler muttered a few angry cuss words and kicked the teddy towards the window. Robin stepped through the opening and caught it. "Well, thanks for explaining everything for me." He said smugly.

Slowly, a smile spread across Riddler's face and he pulled his cane out of his coat. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in: A little Robin." He lunged at the boy but Robin dodged. Riddler jumped straight into the attack, but didn't get far before Kid Flash zipped into the room and hit him in the back of the head.

The super-villain fell to the ground, out cold.

"Well, that went well." Kid Flash grinned at Robin.

Robin grinned back. "I can't believe it was all a trick. And I was playing straight into his hands the whole time!"

"Aha, but you weren't!" Kid Flash zipped over and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Weren't you listening? You _didn't_ find the clue that would have led to the team's destruction!"

"What clue was that anyway?" Robin frowned.

Kid Flash shrugged, "Ask him."

"I don't think he'll be talking for a while." Batman growled as he stepped into the room, "That was quite a punch."

Kid Flash shrugged.

"I though it told you not to confront anyone." Batman glared at the two teens.

Robin shrugged, "It couldn't be avoided. Besides," He gave his mentor a sly grin, "We _did_ radio you and let you know about it."

**Author's Note: Just randomly, I think that whoever invented hiatus was airing a movie and ran out of motive or decided to leave people on a cliffhanger because they were evil and they thought: This will make our fans hate us. So they called it that, but because they were awesome they spelt it weird.**

**I also reckon that hardly any of you will **_**actually**_** bother to read this! Oh I know! REVIEW to prove me wrong and tell me if you agree with the hiatus/hate-us thingy. ;D**


	30. Ch 30 SOLUTION

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it! This is the last chapter, the final one. I'm happy that I'm finally finished, but regretting that it's over. I might be starting a new story, but I need just a smidgen of inspiration to start it off. **

**A special thank you to **_**xXAnimeFreak1Dfanpotterheadx X**_** and **_**Goldenstripe2510**_** for your support!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not gonna ever own Young Justice, am I?**

**Chapter 30: SOLUTION**

Wally jerked upright, _Whoa! I'm awake! I'm awake!_ He looked around the classroom sheepishly, hoping no-one had noticed. Luck was on his side this time, he was seated at the back of the class, and the teacher was focused on another student, so no-one had seen.

He breathed a silent sigh of relief. _OK, just stay awake, it's almost lunch-time, just stay awaa . . ._ his eyes started to droop and he slumped forward in his seat, before snapping upright again. He looked around the room desperately, looking for something to keep him awake.

No luck this time.

He slumped forward in his chair and rested his chin in his cupped hands, using his fingers to force his eyelids to stay open. It worked for about five seconds before he needed to blink. Then he held them open again, but he needed to blink more often, and his eyes were staying closed for longer . . .

He snapped awake again. _Rah! This isn't working! Man! That's the last time I pull and all-nighter like that again!_ He felt himself drifting off and decided a little physical activity might help him stay awake. He shoved his hand up into the air and it worked, he felt a little more focused.

"Yes Mr West?" the teacher asked.

Wally felt bewildered for a moment before realising his teacher was referring to his raised hand. He thought quickly, "Um, sir, can I um, please have a bathroom pass?"

The teacher sighed and gave him permission to leave the room.

Wally ran at super-speed to the bathroom, for no reason aside from wanting exercise to keep him awake. He relieved himself, washed his hands, then his face then he decided a little more exercise wouldn't hurt and sprinted on the spot until he felt awake. He splashed water on his face again, dried off under the hand-drier and sprinted back to class, slipping into his seat feeling fully alert.

_Yeah! I'm awake!_

_. . . _

"Mr West! How dare you sleep in my class!" Wally snapped awake guiltily. _Damn._

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

Dick was stuck wearing a suit and tie but he didn't mind so much, except for the heat. It must have been a bazillion degrees in the shade! Heat like such was almost unheard of Gotham! He tugged at his tie and pulled at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. Bruce was addressing the crowd, and the reporters. Well, mostly the reporters. He had a whole speech about the history of the building to be knocked down – the real history, not the one Dick had discovered about it belonging to the parents of Jillian Reagan. Bruce was now talking about the office complex he was going to build in place of the mansion. It would provide more jobs for approximately one hundred people.

The crowd seemed happy to hear that.

Dick scanned the mass of people in search of a certain red-head. He saw his friend making his way towards him. "You're late." He growled out of the corner of his mouth when Wally stepped up beside him.

"I got detention." Wally hissed back.

"What for, sleeping in class?" Dick joked.

"How'd you know?!" Wally asked accusingly.

"Shh!" Dick hissed, "It wasn't hard to guess. We were up all night."

"Yet you seem fine." Wally grumbled.

Dick chuckled, "A: I'm used to it. B: my school starts later than yours, and I also got the morning off, to keep up my appearance. Instead of getting shot, Dick Grayson sprained his wrist."

Wally muttered something unintelligible.

"The bright side is, I can still write, so I can still do my school-work, but I can't pay basketball to I can get out of PE class!"

"Dude! Why would you be happy about doing schoolwork, yet _want_ to miss PE? Basketball is the best!"

Dick grunted, "Because I enjoy school and in PE I'm stuck playing basketball with a bully who's out for my blood."

"Oh." They were silent for a while. "So, how'd it all work out? Where's the teddy, what happened to the little girl?"

"Jillian Reagan was found a few days after she went missing. She'd been killed by Joker Venom."

Wally sighed, "Poor kid."

"Yeah." Dick agreed, "And the teddy's at home, I'm going to get rid of it."

"You didn't bring it along?" Wally teased.

Dick gave him a look, "I wouldn't be caught dead in public with that thing!"

Wally grinned.

Bruce made a final statement to the crowd and the people erupted in cheers.

"Well," Wally grinned, "The talking's over, now it's time for the food!"

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

A few weeks later, the building had been knocked down and the land cleared completely. Yet again a crowd gathered on the property for the ground-breaking ceremony. Again, Bruce Wayne presented a speech for the people and reporters. Again, Dick stood in absolute boredom, wearing a stuffy suit and again, Wally was late.

"What'd I miss?" He whispered when he finally decided to show up.

Dick glared at him, "Nothing much."

"You dealt with the teddy yet?"

"You gonna ever stop nagging me about it?" Dick retorted, "In fact, yes, I did get rid of it. The other day, the Wayne foundation donated a bunch of clothes, blankets and toys to the children's home. A certain teddy was part of the gift."

"You gave that scruffy old thing to orphans? Seriously, isn't that a little . . . harsh?"

Dick glared at him, "No. It isn't harsh. And no, it isn't scruffy. Alfred wasn't about to let me give that rag to orphans, so he made me help him fix it up. You'd hardly recognise it now."

Wally shrugged. "OK then, no need to get all defensive!" he joked.

Dick had to keep himself from punching his friend. It wouldn't go down well to have pictures and videos of Dick Grayson punching someone at an event like this. Especially since he was supposed to have a sprained wrist.

**oooo0000OOOO {-} OOOO0000oooo**

That night he felt at ease, happy to finally have the whole mystery solved. Riddler was locked away at Belle Reve. Jillian Reagan was no-longer missing. The building was gone construction already underway on the land. And the seemingly haunted teddy-bear was gone, out of his life forever.

He sighed contently and lay back against the pillows. He rolled onto his side, and yelled in shock and surprise when he found himself face-to-face with a certain stuffed toy.

"Yaaaahhhh!" he yelled, "How'd that get there?!"

**Author's Note: I maintain that I think that whoever invented hiatus was airing a movie and ran out of motive or decided to leave people on a cliffhanger because they were evil and they thought: "This will make our fans hate us." So they called it that, but because they were awesome they spelt it weird.**

**I also still maintain that I think hardly any of you will **_**actually**_** bother to read this! Because only two people actually REVIEWED to prove me wrong!**

**Please review and tell me if you agree with the hiatus/hate-us thingy and to prove me wrong about whether you read this or not.**

**Blah, blah, blah. **

**;D**


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